Field of Innocence
by Tsuki KamiNeko
Summary: A transfer exorcist from the North American Branch sends the Order in a curious frenzy to know who it is, strangely she seems to see through most of the masks that people wear. Secrets are revealed, forbidden love blooms, and the world falls into chaos.
1. When Two Meet

Chapter 1: When Two Meet

"People! People! Listen to me, I have an announcement to make!" Komui shouted across the cafeteria. The girl who stood next to him didn't understand why they had to announce her arrival at the cafeteria. It didn't make any sense and it was idiotic. The talking and the bustling in the dining area slowed to a crawl as hundred of eyes peered over at the tall man in white and the girl in black behind him. The girl suddenly felt anxious and nervous there were too many eyes. Her nerves were already in a bundle from moving so far away from home. She felt nauseous. Komui smiled as he got their attention, rarely did they listen to him on accounts to the things he has to say.

"I want you all to meet a new exorcist transferred from the North American Branch. Her name is Mei Chang. I want you all to welcome her and make her feel like home. At times like these, we need all the exorcists to work together harder than before!" there was a voice of hushed 'oh's and 'ah's as they looked at her with curiosity written all over their faces.

"Wow! Is she Asian? You'd think she came from Asia's branch," she heard someone whisper to another and she cringed, she didn't like it when someone comments on her looks like that.

"Her hair's so dark and straight, doesn't it remind you of Kanda?" someone else muttered with a fork in his hand and awed look in his eyes. Mei felt homesick already, she didn't want to be here, but due to certain circumstances at the British Branch, they were excessively low on exorcists. Mei pulled on Komui's sleeve and he looked back on her behind his thin-rimmed glasses with a warm smile. No matter how he looked at her, she reminded him of Lenalee in so many ways, from the dark hair to the dark stern eyes that had just a hint of gentleness and kindness in them.

"Yes?" he asked turning around and facing her, Mei sighed and pushed her side bangs behind her ear as if in a tired motion.

"Are we done?" she asked softly looking at the crowd that was still staring at her but half their attention was on their food. One thing that stood out in the crowd was a patch of white hair that sat in the middle of the dining room. There were plates stacked as high as three feet into the air with a boy eating away at a chicken thigh. Somehow it made Mei felt even more nauseated. Komui noticed her eyes wandering out into the crowd and land on the infamous exorcist, Allen Walker, holder of the famous Crown Clown.

"Would you like to meet him, Mei?" he asked her and she looked up at him surprised and shook her head.

"Not really," she said hastily taking a step back with a half smile on her lips, she didn't need another horde of people examining her and asking her strange questions as to why she was from the North American Branch when she so clearly seem to be from the Asia Branch. Komui had that silly smile on his face, one that she was warned to be careful around whenever it appeared. "Really Komui, no need, I'll just go get my bags and find my room." Mei said taking another step back cautiously.

"Are you harassing another girl, Komui?" a voice came from behind and Mei turned around to meet the eyes of a tall red head with an eye patch over his right eye. His messy red hair and grinning lips made him seem like those seem carefree. But it was those green eyes of his that caught Mei's attention. It glimmered like inlaid emeralds, but there was definitely a fire inside him that this man rarely lets other people see. The boy looked over and Mei turned her head away hoping she didn't catch her ogling at him.

"I'm not harassing her, Lavi! I was just wondering if she wanted to meet Allen that is all," Komui whined childishly when another dark haired girl walked over with a tray in her hand. Her hair was cut short as it fell a little above her neck as it was pinned up near her ear. Mei was suddenly entranced by her loveliness. She may not like it here, but people here sure are pretty to look at.

"What's wrong, brother?" she asked and Komui literally latched onto the girl like a crying toddler and pointed at Lavi with tear soaked eyes.

"Lavi's bullying me, Lenalee!" he cried, all this commotion was giving Mei a headache. Just when she was about to turn away she felt someone's arm latch onto her and pull her close. Mei looked up and felt her cheeks go hot. This Lavi guy had some guts pulling her so close to him, her cheeks brushed against his thick jacket that smelled of strangely like shampoo and books. A memory of a young blonde man surfaced, his smile and this familiar scent was driving her more and more sad that she was so far away from home. Mei didn't even realize that she had nestled herself into him hoping to get more of Lavi.

"Like hell I was, Komui! I was just trying to save this poor girl from you," Lavi said through bursts of laughter, Mei didn't need a guy saving her from anything and she surely didn't need a total stranger this close to her. She reluctantly pushed his arm off and stalked off into the other direction where her luggage was awaiting her.

Surprised by the newcomer's sudden cold reaction towards him, Lavi followed suit. The girl's hair glinted softly in a rhythmic pattern from the building's arched windows as he watched her from behind. Every minute or so he would catch her glimpse back at him and hurry her pace. Soon the two were jogging down the hallway, almost as if they were playing catch on this sunny Sunday afternoon. Her long hair swayed methodically in the air turning almost purple in the sun, Lavi found himself almost hypnotized by their movement when Mei suddenly made a turn.

Mei didn't understand why Lavi was following her still, she had attempted to lose him at the last corner, but he had caught on. She turned towards him, "Why are you following me?" she hollered with pants in between each word.

Why was he following her? He didn't know her, and she clearly didn't like him nor wanted his company. Yet, that feeling was there, that bubbling sensation at the pit of his stomach telling him to follow. Lavi shrugged, "I just want to talk to you," he said in a breeze, the jogging seemed to be having no effect on him.

Mei tried to push herself faster, but her sides were cramping up. She hadn't had anything to eat since her last train rides from Britain. Her leg muscles burned angrily at her refusal to stop running and her breathing had shortened considerably. She felt like passing out. Her head was fuzzy and throbbed heavily against her skull and Mei felt her eyes droop, before she knew it her knees buckled beneath her. She heard that loudmouth Lavi shout her name, but she was too tired to retort back. She was freefalling straight to the ground below her.

Lavi witnessed Mei's movement slow down to almost a sluggish crawl when her body seemed to give out altogether. He shouted her name before throwing himself at her trying to catch the raven-haired girl before she hit the dark granite floor. Lavi managed to catch her mid-fall, she was drenched in a layer of sweat with a few strands of hair stuck to her pale face. He pushed them aside when Mei slowly opened her eyes. Lavi found himself mesmerized by her eyes, they were topaz in color speckled with dark brown. In the few strand of sun coming through, her eyes looked almost like gold in color.

"Hey, there. Are you okay?" he asked softly. Mei didn't think such a gentle voice existed in Lavi. She tried to swat away his hand that was stroking the side of her temple, even though she didn't want him to stop.

"I'm fine," Mei replied sitting up with her head against one hand. A headache was forming at her frontal lobe.

"You don't look fine," he said simply sitting cross-legged next to her.

"Why are you so sassy all the time?" Mei snapped and immediately felt bad after when Lavi looked genuinely hurt for a second before recovering his composure, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you," she mumbled. The two of them sat there in silence feeling slightly awkward when Lavi raised a question.

"Are you hungry?" he asked looking up at her.

"No," Mei answered, but her stomach betrayed her when it growled loudly the next second. Lavi burst into wild laughter while Mei tried to shut him up by throwing useless punches at him. Mei's face had turned a shade of red so dark that Lavi honestly thought she might blow in another second.

He wiped away tears from his eye and leaned back on his elbows, "Wow, Mei Chang, you really are something," he said looking at her, his eyes full of life and laughter. This made Mei even more self-conscious. God, she was cute. No, she was absolutely beautiful to him. She was like a breath of fresh air in this godforsaken place that reeked of death. It was also this very thought that scared Lavi. But he pushed past it and simply ignored it when he extended a hand to her.

"Lets get some food in you," Lavi smirked. Mei chose to avert her gaze and walked back towards the dining area, with his long legs and bigger strides he made his way to the front. Lavi placed his hands leisurely behind his head and listened to the footsteps behind him. Now and then he would look back and see her several feet away from him as if he had some sort of contagious disease.

"You don't have to walk so far behind you know. I don't bite," he said stopping and turning around to look at Mei. She crossed her arms and looked away defiantly like a stubborn child.

"You might as well do," she muttered with the roll of her eyes.

He sighed ruffling his already messy red hair. He walked back and looked down at her, "Come on," He took her hand and started walking again in a faster pace. If they didn't hurry, Jerry was going to stop production in the kitchen. Mei, surprised by his gentleness let him take the lead. She looked down at the ground as their feet, perplexed by how in sync they became walking next to each other.

Before they reached their destination, Mei halted, her stomach in knots. Lavi looked back at her confused, "What's wrong?"

Mei could feel her toes curling on instinct from embarrassment of that came next, "I... I don't want to go back there. There's too many people," her grip tightened around his and Lavi felt like he suddenly had heart arrhythmia.

Something clicked inside Lavi's head when he realized that Mei was anxious. She was thousands of miles away from home with nobody here for her. All her family and friends were back in the North American division, and here she was alone and by herself. She needed a friend more than anything else. Lavi exhaled and stepped up to her, he patted her head softly and those eyes of hers fluttered up at him relieved, "You'll be fine, everyone should be finishing up soon and returning back to their posts," he felt her grip lax with a thankful smile.

They stepped into the dining area and Lavi was right, almost half the cafeteria had cleared out with some remaining bodies scattered about. Before they reached the ordering window, the dark-haired girl from before stepped in between them with a clipboard in hand. She was tall and lithe with dark-colored eyes and a fair complexion. The girl carried herself well, and with her somewhat strict and organized composure, Mei assumed that she was most likely Komui's younger sister, Lenalee. Mei noticed Lenalee looking skeptically at their linked hands before Mei yanked it away, turning a shade of bright pink. Mei didn't want people to think she was fraternizing with the opposite sex.

The girl didn't say anything on that matter, but she extended her hand towards Mei, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to introduce myself earlier, I'm Lenalee," her smile was also a gentle one and Mei felt herself at ease. Lenalee jotted something down on her clipboard before looking up again, "Welcome to the Black Organization, Mei. After eating, please report to the base of the headquarters," Lenalee explained her voice lowering at the end of the sentence. Lavi didn't need an explanation to know what that meant.

"What is the meaning of this?" he growled lowly his hands clenching into tight fists at his side.

Lenalee countered his glare with her own, "You know I don't like this any more than you do. But we have to follow orders, or she'll end up just like Allen,"

Mei grateful for Lavi's help was surprised when he abruptly defended her. She didn't really understand what they were talking about, but it seemed serious. Mei touched his arm lightly, "It's okay, I understand. I'll be down in Komui's office in fifteen," Lenalee gave her a reassuring smile and touched her arm as if telling her good luck with everything before bounding off, "You know, you're awfully nice to a person you just met," she watched Lenalee disappear down the corridor.

"I'm nice to everyone," he winked making Mei roll her eyes once more. The girl was right though. On normal occasions he wasn't naturally so attached to people right off the bat. There was just something about this one that piqued his curiosity. Mei was different.

Once they arrived at the ordering window, Mei could hear an orchestra of sizzling woks and body movements behind the kitchen counter. An unfamiliar dark skinned face with purple dreads and thin sunglasses perched on a sharp nose appeared with a bright smile plastered on his face.

"Oh hello, Lavi! What can I get for you, my big boy?" he cooed.

"Hey, Jeryy," Lavi laughed before launching into a list of food orders on his fingers. Jeryy took notice of the small girl next to him.

"Who is this cutie? And what can I get for you?" he inquired with a wider smile Mei thought anymore his lips would rip.

"I'm Mei Chang, nice to meet you Jeryy," she nodded politely, "Can I have a burger with a side of fries?" it was a request that was reminiscent of home.

The two ate without much words exchanged except Lavi couldn't help but look up once in a while to check up on Mei who was devouring her burger. Jeryy was going to take a liking this girl most definitely.

"Stop fidgeting will you?" she told him softly picking at her fries. Lavi stopped eating his rice ball, his eyes wandering to the ground.

"I don't like the way Rouvelier thinks everyone is an enemy," Mei looked at him and sighed. Malcolm C. Rouvelier was a man you usually don't mess with. He has that intimidating presence that sends chills down everyone's spine if not cower in fear. Mei never liked him to start with. The first time she met him was when she was only four years old, on her way to becoming a user of Innocence. All she remembered was that glare of his that stone cold glare he gave her. Mei shuddered at the very memory of him. Only Branch Head Renee Epsteine seemed to be able to protect her from him.

"I'll deal with it. Hevlaska works for the Innocence so she can't be bad, so relax. Don't get your panty all up in a bunch," she joked. Mei stood up and took her plates with her, "Better get going, can't let them wait all day," she smirked with a wry grin. She gave him a wave, "Thanks for keeping me company, Lavi," how he loved the way she said his name. Lavi watched the girl walking away in amazement. It was like fear didn't phase her will to keep going.

- - - - - - - - - x x

**Author's Note**: Hello, my pretties! I hope you all had a good read and please kindly leave a review! I'd appreciate the feedback! :]


	2. Nakama

Chapter 2: Nakama

The hallways seemed darker on this side of the building. There were no windows and papers just seemed to be littered everywhere. The candle in her hand flickered its light against the white walls casting eerie shadows. Mei swallowed hard, she's never been to Headquarters before and she couldn't bring herself to rely on someone to ask for directions to Komui's office. That was regrettably a big mistake on her part. It was getting terribly dark when something sounded on the far end of the corridor. Mei squeaked dropping her candle and cowering on the ground with her eyes shut. She hated the dark. It was then that her ears picked on music notes being played from far away. It was a melody so sweet that she found herself wandering after it. Mei stopped abruptly before two large wooden doors, a large sign indicating that it was the science department and that only science division people were allowed in.

Mei didn't usually go around breaking rules and such, but this time the song compelled her forward. In a daze-like haze, she pushed open the doors open. The gentle creak of the wood revealed a large facility containing a bright luminescence in an egg shape vessel. There were large pipes and wires attached to it and multitude of buttons lined against the metal walls. Mei's lips fell apart, her eyes wide with realization that she had just stepped into the room holding Noah's Ark. The volume of the music had increased, but only by a bit and it was coming from inside a doorway labeled '64'. She pursed her lips knowing she would get in so much trouble if she were caught being in the room, but she just had to find out where the music was coming from. Mei scoured around her before taking a giant leap into the highlighted doorway.

She thought she would've been falling, but then again she didn't know really what was going to happen to her once she went through the gate. Instead of falling, she stepped onto hard ground. Mei blinked several times before she noticing that there was sunlight and her eyes were still adjusting from the darkness beforehand. What a peculiar place inside the ark was! In itself was the outside world. There was a sky and there was a sun glaring down at her. The path below her were made of hexagonal tiles leading to various buildings. Plants hung delicately from planters off walls and in the center of this seemingly large cityscape were an enormous dome pantheon encircled with fountains. It was beautiful and took her breath away.

Stuck in her own amazement Mei didn't even realize that the music being played before had stopped until a loud bang of a closing door brought her attention back. Mei was frozen in place when she realized that she wasn't alone. Before her stood the white-haired boy from this afternoon, but this time she could see him more clearly. He had a faint scar on his left eye and his left arm was jagged with a deep burgundy color. It was only that she noticed the cross on the top of his hand did it come to her that that was his Innocence weapon. His weapon was a parasitic type, one that infused with the accommodator's body. He also had these clear crystal gray-blue eyes, ones that seemed to look right into her soul.

The white-haired boy broke their gaze and frowned slightly, "You aren't supposed to be here, if the branch heads finds out, they'll have you by the skin," he reprimanded, but she felt like he wasn't being actually serious. Mei couldn't imagine Komui ever dishing out punishment when he could barely stand up to Lavi.

Mei opened her mouth unsure of what to say but words seem to tumble out on their own, "That song, where did you learn that song from?"

The boy stepped back surprised by the question, "That's classified information. I'm sorry," he answered her with a quizzical look. It wasn't everyday somebody asked him about the song that Timcanpy had hidden away inside of itself. It was a song that triggered part of the 14th's memories inside Allen. A foreboding feeling settled itself in his stomach and Allen guarded himself against the girl's questions.

Mei's eyes were cast downward, it wasn't just the music that compelled her to find the ark, but because her own memories that were attached to it. She knew she had heard of the song before, it was a song her mother had taught her as a lullaby. It was no wonder nostalgia had bubbled up inside her the entire time she was entranced within it's melodic grasp. A wave of sadness washed over her thinking about her mother when she felt a hand on her shoulder, Mei looked up and saw the boy giving her a kind smile. It was then that she noticed in his clear pools of blue and gray, a veil of darkness was hidden amongst it.

"You're conflicted," she managed to say, lost in his eyes. Allen didn't know what to say to her. It seemed like this girl could read him by just looking into his eyes. He wasn't sure if he appreciated what she was doing even if subconsciously. Mei flung her head as if to shake off a bad vibe, "I'm sorry, I'm quite lost and wandered in here," she said looking around. Allen narrowed his eyes, she wasn't completely telling him the truth. There was something else that made her wander to the ark of all places and how did she even find her way in? There was something familiar about her face, like he had seen her before.

"Have we met?" Allen asked trying hard to recall her name and face.

"Not officially," she said scratching her head, "I'm Mei by the way," she said stretching a hand out to him. Her smile did not falter when Allen hesitated to return the favor.

"Allen Walker," he slowly shook her hand. Allen looked around him before he motioned her towards the exit, "we should leave before anyone finds out that we're here,"

Mei then remembered she had a meeting with Komui, a sinking feeling set itself in her stomach, "Ah, I'm late for a meeting, is it possible for you to direct me to Komui's office?"

x x x x

Allen escorted Mei towards Komui's office, they didn't say much on the way. Allen was still cautious of the girl that walked next to him. Of all places she could've wandered to, she found herself inside the ark instead. How did Mei even find the room to begin with? It was restricted to the science division unit and those who have a high enough clearance may enter. Allen didn't dwell on such questions, she was a new exorcist, and perhaps she really did just get lost.

Allen looked Mei over once more and noticed that she didn't seem to have a weapon of sorts on her and he couldn't see any marks on her body to indicate she was a parasitic type Innocence wielder, "Can I ask you a question?" he inquired.

"Sure,"

"I don't see a weapon on you nor do I see marks of a parasitic type. What is your Innocence?" Mei smiled. She knew sooner or later someone was going to ask her that question.

"I think it's better if I showed you rather than explained it to you," she snapped her fingers and a small flame appeared at the tip of her finger. Allen in awe, tried to stroke the fire with his own finger, only to get burned.

He yelped, "How does it not burn you?" he questioned blowing on his hand. Mei let a hearty laugh out before settling back into a stride next to him.

She turned and started walking backwards, "Like you, Allen Walker, my Innocence is also a parasitic type. But mine has made me a little less human,"

Allen didn't understand what her statement had meant, "You're no more different than the rest of us, you're not a freak," he tried reassuring her that there were things that were far more sinister than exorcists. Mei grinned, for someone who was younger than her he seemed so much more understanding about life than she is.

"I never said that, Allen," Mei blew out her flame, "On a molecular structure, I'm not human. My Innocence has altered my cells allowing me to create fire with my body without burning me. I am the substance to create," she explained, "Watch," she struck a finger against her arm and a bright trail of fire was lit on her arm.

"That's quite enough showing off, Ms. Chang," a gruff and curt voice cut across their conversation. The voice made the hairs on her neck stand on ends and she felt her throat constrict with fear. Her hands had unconsciously grasped onto Allen's digging her nails into it creating red welts.

"Rouvelier," Allen said bitterly, his eyes darkening with rage.

"Mei, you're awfully late to your evaluation," he said hauntingly sweet that she literally felt shivers go down her spine.

"I was getting there, Rouvilier," she refuted angrily and he chuckled at her stubbornness and clicked his tongue at her.

"You don't want to associate yourself too closely with people like Allen Walker, Mei. He might be dangerous," he stipulated at her with a hard glare from behind his toothbrush mustache grin.

"I think I know who my friends are," she said letting her hands fall to her side and walking past him without another concern. She turned towards Allen with a smile, "It was nice meeting you, Allen Walker. Hope we meet again," he felt like he was letting her walk to her death, like watching Lenalee for the second time in his life walk away into the darkness. Mei noticed the worried expression on his face, just like Lavi, "Don't worry Allen, I'll be back—you exorcists worry too much," she said with a final laugh before walking away into the light that was filtering through the Order's window on an early afternoon.

x x x x

The reading room was more quiet than usual, the grandfather clock in the room ticked loudly noting the seconds that were passing by. Yet, time wasn't passing by fast enough.

"Why are all of you are in a bad mood?" Miranda took a sip of her tea and eyed a sulking Lavi and a worried Allen. Lenalee was a lot more quiet than usual. She sat there looking at her cup of tea watching the ripple take effect. No one wanted to answer Miranda's question, which left the time controlling exorcist saddened by the silence.

"Kanda always looks like he's in a bad mood, so I don't think he counts," Krory pointed out skimming a book in his hand. He sat precariously at a window's ledge where he was able to look down at them.

"Well, it's a good thing he's not here. We all know how he gets with a newcomer," Marie said walking past with a box of paperwork. Everyone looked up at Allen the white-haired boy glanced away pretending not to know what Marie was talking about. While the rest chattered Lenalee produced a file from underneath her it was Mei's personnel file with all her background information. She fiddled with the edges unsure if she should share it with everyone. There were some saddening news inside of it, and its only made Lenalee become more aware at how terrible the war their fighting was.

Lavi saw Lenalee sitting by herself in the corner couch, a manila older daintily balanced on her lap. He walked over and pulled a chair up, "Whatchu got over there?" Lenalee didn't say anything leaving Lavi a bit worried, "Something wrong?"

The Asian girl shook her head, she lifted the folder and frowned, "It's Mei's file,"

The red head pursed his lips in thought, "Is there something we should know about?"

Lenalee watched Lavi's face for any signs of deception when she smiled "You really have taken a liking to her haven't you?" Lavi shrugged, his cheeks turning slightly red. Lenalee opened up the file and skimmed the top, "She's seventeen, born January 14th 1856. Her parents were exorcists as well,"

Lavi's heart sank at the last statement, his head was down, "You used 'were', I assume that her parents has passed?" it wasn't something Lavi liked picking up, but words were his specialty.

"Killed in action," was all she said and she didn't have to elaborate for Lavi to understand. Her parents were most likely killed by the akumas while out on a mission or something, "She's been staying in the North American headquarters since her parents were killed and was under the supervision of Head Branch Renee Epsteine," Lavi and Lenalee was quiet for a minute, "She's suffered too. Innocence is so cruel sometimes,"

"All we can do is hope this war will end soon," Lavi commented leaning back on his chair.

There was a creak from the door revealing a dark-haired girl coming in. Six heads all turned to look at Mei and the girl stepped back from the sudden attention. Lenalee hurriedly stuffed the folder into a drawer and Lavi jumped from his chair and walked over opening the door wider, "You made it!" he said happily. Mei smiled up at him and gave him a thumb up. Lavi pulled her into the room, "Come on, there's some people I want you to meet," A tall angular man leapt from the windows and landed gracefully on the wooden floor, he had sharp facial features, pointed ears, and when he smiled Mei saw what were fangs as teeth. He had short black hair with a long white streak that fell across his face.

The man bowed introducing himself, "I'm Baron Arystar Krory III, it's a pleasure to meet you," he reminded Mei of a Count Dracula, a story she heard as a child.

Another man of large stature stepped up, he had dark skin and no hair. His eyes were glazed white with a soft smile. He was adorned with ten rings on his fingers and wore a headphone. He shook Mei's hand stating his name was 'Marie Noise'. The man was blind noted Mei when he didn't look directly at her instead above her head.

Finally a hauntingly beautiful woman came over with a cup of warm tea in her hands, she had pale skin and dark circles around her eyes as if she hadn't slept in a while. Even so she had beautiful locks of wavy hair cascading down her shoulders and the look of maturity in her eyes. Her motherly tone of voice and gesture settled Mei's jittery nerves. Although that only lasted briefly as Mei found all of them just staring at her the entire time she finished her cup of tea.

"What are you all staring at?" Mei grumbled at them causing them to sit back from surprise. Their faces wore embarrassed expressions from not realizing that they were staring. Mei placed her empty cup on the side where Miranda went to go refill it and Marie offered her a platter of sweets to which she declined. She crossed her legs and sat back flipping her hair from her eyes, "I told you guys I was going to be fine, Rouvilier isn't ready to dissect me yet," everyone looked at each other with a face that Mei didn't recognize, but it probably was something along the lines of being a 'bad joke'.

Lenalee finally leaned in and took her hands in hers, "I hope Rouvelier wasn't too hard on you," her voice shook and her eyes spoke of terror from experience. Mei didn't know what to say as her heart clenched in her chest.

Mei's eyes were cast down to the floor, "I'm sorry," she mumbled and Lenalee cocked an eyebrow at her, clearly confused as to why she was apologizing, "I've barely settled down and I've already started worrying you guys," she felt Lenalee's grasp tighten and her head popped up.

"You're family now, and family has to look out for one another, you understand?" she scolded lightly before her lips broke out into a warm smile. A tingling sensation crawled its way to Mei's heart. Perhaps it wasn't so bad here after all.

- - - - - - - - - x x

**Author's Note**: Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well and leave me a review if you can! Thanks! ;]


	3. Milk & Cookies

Chapter 3: Milk and Cookies

Mei slipped between the soft cushions of the comforter, immediately taken in by the warmth it provided. It's been a long day and she was more than exhausted, ready to knock out in her newly provided room. She hadn't had the time to unpack everything, but she was able to get the essentials out of her luggage. She snuggled her face into a soft beige blanket that she had brought with her wherever she went. It was something that her mother had given her as a child and it was one of the remaining items she had left from her deceased parents. It gave her comfort, and it would always soothe away the loneliness that often crept into her heart.

Contrary to her own beliefs, the European branch wasn't as lonely as she thought it was going to be, people were friendly and already she had made a few friends. Still, they couldn't completely shield away the void that was already there left by her late parent's death. She was a horrible person even with all these smiling faces welcoming her to the Black Order she was still unsatisfied. The festering fear of being left behind again was the only thing that kept her going.

Mei let herself drown in her own misery when a small knock came from her door. She peered over her sheets to squint at her clock on the bedside table it read 1:30 am in the morning. Who would come to her room at this godforsaken hour? She reluctantly slipped out of bed and made her way to the door. She cracked it open and peered out. A mess of red hair and a toothed grin greeted her at the door.

Mei rubbed her eyes, "Lavi, it's almost two in the morning," her voice was laced with irritation it was like he never left her alone. Lavi raised a tray in his hands with an innocent smile. Two cups of steaming foamy brown liquid sat on the wooden tray prepared fully with a plate of what seemed like cinnamon sugar cookies. Mei's mouth salivated; cinnamon sugar cookies and hot chocolate were her two guilty pleasures. She wasn't sure how to respond to his gesture.

Lavi shuffled his feet, apparent that he wasn't too sure of himself either. He had never done this for anyone else before and he didn't know why the new exorcist of all people, "Well, I know we started off on the wrong foot and I wanted to make it right. I know what it's like to shuffle from one place to another," he was a Bookman after all; he's seem a lot of terrible things in his short lifetime. From place to place they moved to, changing their name and guises, it was lonely, "You're probably homesick more than anything, and you're all alone out here by yourself. I just wanted to make you feel more at home," he stopped to take a breath, "So I had Komui make a few phone calls to branch head Renee and she told him at times like this a cup of hot chocolate and cinnamon cookie always brightened your mood," his face flushed a deep burgundy not sure what to say next.

The response he got wasn't what he expected. Large dollops of tears were falling from Mei's large eyes wide in shock. Lavi's heart fell, he had fucked up again. He didn't mean to make her cry, "Shit, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad. I just wanted to help," he was getting desperate, "I'm just going to leave this here and be on my way then," he said in a hurry. Just as he was about to leave Mei tugged on his sleeve. Surprised by her action, he turned back around feeling awkward at their silence with just her small hiccups filling the void.

"I didn't think anyone would care enough," she cried heavily into her hands, "I am homesick," she confessed. Lavi didn't know what to do at this point except bring her into a hug. She was relatively short compared to Lavi, perhaps even shorter than Lenalee.

What he wasn't prepared for was that the girl actually snuggled into him staining his black t-shirt with her tears. She really was lonely. He wrapped his arms around her small body and stroked her hair, "There, there, let it all out," he soothed with his gentle words. It was comforting to know that somebody around here needed him, even if it was only for a moment. In this solitary world, warmth was something hard to come by and if this was an opportunity to atone for what Lavi has done, then by god he was going to take it.

x x x x

Mei groaned opening her eyes a bit while glancing out the window to see the sun was about to come up with its rays peeking past the mountains. She groaned again knowing it wasn't time to wake up to start her duties just yet. Mei curled back to the warm spot relishing in the heat it was providing. Try as she might Mei couldn't escape a prodding sensation in her back. She reached for it and made a grab for something soft yet hard and a soft groan escaped from under her sheets. Mei's body stiffened when she realized she wasn't alone in bed. She quickly let go of what she latched onto and pulled her blankets up.

A tall lanky boy was sleeping next to her, his hair messy from being underneath all night. Lavi shivered from the sudden cold, he subconsciously pulled the blankets from her and wound himself into a cocoon. A wave of crimson shattered her usually pale complexion as she tumbled out of bed. The loud thud proceeded to wake Lavi up; he sat up and yawned when he took in his surroundings. This wasn't his room. Then he remembered taking a midnight snack to Mei's room. If he woke up in her room then that would mean that he must've fallen asleep some time soon after.

A mewl came from the floor and Lavi peered over to see Mei sprawled on the ground with a frown etched hard into her face. Although by chance he also took in the fact that she was dressed only in a oversized shirt with no pants underneath and her slender legs radiated softly from beneath the thin cloth. He managed a smile, "Morning, sunshine," he tried testing the waters.

She pointed to the door, "Get out," Lavi was stumped at her change of heart when she was so willing for him to stay over the night before. When he didn't move she enunciated the two words again, "Get. Out." Her face was bright red, and her head was kept down. Mei didn't want him finding out that she had accidentally touched his manhood earlier; she would just die if he found out.

Lavi wasn't going away that easily, he hated losing, "Did I do something wrong?" he crawled out of bed stretching his limbs. Mei's eyes couldn't help but fall to his lower half of the body when she turned her head. She felt like a nosebleed was coming on with all the heat in her face. Perplexed by her silence he walked over to her and bent down so that they were eye to eye with one another, "Why are you ignoring me now?" he was getting slightly frustrated. She mumbled something, "What, I can't hear you," Lavi sighed. He squared her shoulders so that Mei was looking at him.

Mei's cheeks were dashed with hint of pink, her lips pouting and those eyes glimmered with unshed tears. Lavi had to resist the urge to suddenly want to close the gap between them. He shook his head to rid himself of such ludacris thoughts, "What did you say earlier?"

Mei's ego died a little the minute Lavi found out. He stood there while she continued to sit on the ground. It was so quiet that she heard him gulp when she looked up, "Look I'm sorry, lets pretend this never happened," Lavi only managed a small nod, his emotions were somewhere between embarrassed and wanting to shoot himself in the head for being careless. She stood up and gave him the tray with the empty cups, "You should go before anyone gets up and finds out. We'll be in so much trouble. They probably think we're doing all kinds of inappropriate things when really nothing happened," Mei didn't even understand how everything got so messy so fast already. First the hand holding and now sleeping in the same bed, what was wrong with her? She was taught to be more careful than that. But Lavi just seemed to pop out of nowhere in the most inconvenient times.

Mei pushed Lavi towards the door but before kicking him out she gave him a small hug from behind, "Thank you," she muttered and she meant it. Even through all this grief, he had gone out of the way to make her feel welcome and if that meant traveling through a maze of unnecessary roads because this boy here thought it was funny, then so be it. She would rather take that over being alone any day.

Lavi watched her smile disappear behind the wooden door, his heart stung and he knew exactly why, he was getting attached to her already. He didn't want to play charade with Mei or with Allen and the rest of the crew. He was starting to want them to see him for who he really was. But that was against the rules. Bookman teachings strongly discouraged and sometimes even forbade Lavi from making personal attachments. He stood in the cold corridor still holding onto the tray with two empty cups reminding him of the good few hours he spent with her, warm in each other's arms. He hadn't known such beautiful emotions existed, happiness and feeling whole, and it hurt knowing that fact now.

x x x x

Mei sat down quietly at the table, small 'good morning's were exchanged with fellow exorcists and Finders when Lenalee and Allen approached and sat down.

"Good morning," Lenalee greeted followed by Allen and his stack of orders, "I hope your first night here was okay," she prompted while sitting down. Mei's thoughts traveled back to just a few hours before and almost choked on her oatmeal.

"Oh, it was great," Mei smiled, obviously having to lie about her situation, "I'm ready to roll," giving them a thumb up. Just when she thought she rid of the Lavi for the morning, he suddenly sat down next to her, "Well, speak of the devil…" Mei uttered under her breath, Lavi merely gave her a wink to which she rolled her eyes in response.

"Oh, good, you're all here," Lenalee broke her fried egg yolk over her rice, "My brother wants to see you all after breakfast, you're being assigned new missions,"

Lavi cringed, "What! Already? It's only been three days since the last one," he complained digging into his pork cutlet.

"You know the drill," Lenalee sighed, "Kanda will meet you in the office, he just got in last night,"

"That bastard showing off again!" Lavi frowned biting another piece of pork proceeding to stuff his face with rice.

Mei was curious of this Kanda gentleman, was he as nice as the other fellows? It would be nice to befriend another exorcist. Mei wiped her lips and scooted out of her seat, "I'll be heading to Komui's office first,"

Lenalee followed suit, "I'm about done too, let's go together?" she offered and Mei granted her presence. The two girls walked off, if they were related the two could be passed off as siblings.

Allen followed Lavi's eyes after Mei and grinned, "She's nice isn't she?" Lavi turned and gave him a nod followed by a goofy grin. He understood that look even if Lavi didn't understand it himself, "Just be careful, okay?" Lavi furrowed his brows at his friend's cryptic statement.

Once inside his office, Mei could see why the head branch of Europe would need his sister as his assistance. Paper stacks were everywhere, meaning almost everywhere. They were even in some places Mei didn't even know was possible to stuff that much paper in. In almost every nook and cranny there were either paperwork or bottles from late night experiments. Lenalee had already started bustling about clearing some of it off his desk so that Komui would be able to see Mei.

The door opened without a knock when a tall young man stepped through. Mei's breath stopped mid-way when their eyes met. His dark ebony eyes that looked so empty met her golden ones. Then it happened, a flashback of a young child running across a hallway with another young boy with shorter hair. She could hear their laughter as an older blonde man chased after them. Mei shook her head and the images in her head dispersed. She blinked several times to get her bearings again. The young man was still staring, no, glaring at her with his hand on his sword. What was that? Mei felt like she had just hallucinated for a bit. The girl rubbed her temples to relieve the pressure that had accumulated in her head and sighed. He was handsome and had rather stunning long black hair, but that glower and what seemed like a sour attitude was definitely due for an upgrade.

"Ah, Kanda! So nice of you to join us this fine, beautiful morning," Komui stated pushing his glasses up, "I see you haven't met our newest addition, Mei Chang, she will be fighting along side us," he turned to Mei, "This is our kind sir, Yuu Kanda, he's bit on the nasty side. But he's tolerable,"

Mei's stomach was already knotting up, so this was Kanda. He didn't seem nice at all in fact Mei felt a vicious vibe coming from the young Japanese man. There was a knock coming from the door when it opened and both Allen and Lavi strode in. Finally, there was a form of distraction for her. Mei made sure to stand as far away from Kanda as possible. She didn't want the images cropping up again.

"Now that you're all here, let me give you your assignments," Komui flipped through some papers and frowned, Lenalee then handed him two files and he gratefully thanked her, "There's going to be two teams, one will be heading to Venice and the other to Lyon. There seems to be coinciding occurrences of high-level akumas. I want you to take a look, there's a high possibility of an Innocence, get it before the akumas find it. Finders are already dispatched and will escort both teams to their final destination," Koumi shuffled some more paper around and Mei crossed her fingers hoping she didn't end up partnering ip with Kanda, "Allen, you will be heading to Lyon with Lavi and Kanda you'll be taking Mei with you to Venice,"

The last of Mei's hopes were dashed when she heard his name with hers. Kanda's facial expression darkened even more when he gave her a hard stare. Mei glowered right back at him, she wasn't in the mood of being nice nor was she going to let him bully her all the way there.

Kanda snatched the file from Komui and was about to stalk off when Komui called after him, "Don't underestimate her Kanda, she's not a new exorcist like the first time you took Allen out. She's an experienced full-fledged exorcist, so easy on the cold shoulder," he advised. Kanda didn't need someone like Komui to tell him what to do, especially with new transfers.

The four stepped out to prepare for their missions when Lenalee spoke up, "Brother, are you sure those two will be okay together?"

Komui had a smug grin plastered on his face. He picked up his coffee cup and took a sip, "They'll be fine. I wouldn't pair them up if they couldn't work together," Sometimes even Lenalee couldn't make out what her brother's master plan was.

- - - - - - - - - x x

**Author's Note**: Please kindly remember to leave a review if you can and let me know what you thought of this chapter!


	4. Forward We Move

Chapter 4: Forward We Move

"Tiki! Let's go!" Mei called to her golem as the little black bat like object flew above her head and landed on her shoulder. "Ready?" and the little golem quipped with a nod. Allen walked over with Timcanpi when he noticed the name she called her golem, flashes of images resurfaced as he squeezed his eyes and held his head in pain. Lavi took notice and frowned.

"You okay Allen?" he asked looking at him with his one suitcase in hand, the white haired boy smiled up at the red head and nodded. Lavi shrugged as his eyes made his way towards the other two dark haired teens.

"Aren't you going to say bye or anything?" Allen asked him in his Black Order's robe, Lavi just chuckled and shook his head making his wild fire hair fall around his bright green eye.

"It's not like we're not going to see each other anymore," he told him and the shorter one pursed his lips into a line. He began walking over to where Yu and Mei were and waved hello, Kanda as usual didn't seem to take notice or chose to ignore him while Mei smiled brightly at him with a nod of good morning. Her face fell when she saw Lavi tailing behind like a sad puppy. Lavi noticed her change in facial expression and pouted with his hand shoved into his black jacket pocket.

"Are you still mad at me about this morning?" he started and Mei narrowed her eyes at him like she was going to set him on fire. Allen had to pull the girl away a few inches in fear that she might actually put that idea into action.

"Let's see if you like being drooled all over 7 in the morning," she looked at him with an arched brow and he laughed uneasily at her with an apologetic stare. He bent down so they were eye to eye level with each other. Her dark brown ones matching his green one, like the first day they met.

"I'll make it up to you then," he countered and she looked at him surprised then confused, then a bit scared as she stepped away and hid behind Kanda who looked mortified and pissed that she was using him as a shield against Lavi.

"How come I get this feeling that you're going to do something not so funny?" she asked cautiously holding her bag in both hands. She heard the whistle of the train from the distance as a slight breeze picked up and fluttered her Black Order uniform.

"Are you morons done? If you are we have a train to catch." Kanda reminded them, his hand on Mugen flexed as he prepared himself. No one ever said that they were actually going to ride the train from the platform. Mei pushed her hair away from her face and looked up at the stern Kanda.

"Don't we have to wait for the Finders to come?" she asked and he squarely looked her in the eye like he was going to pierce through her with his sword for being stupid.

"He'll be meeting us at the other train, were you not listening you idiot?" he muttered, his words stung and Mei just wanted to land a punch on his face when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned a teary eyed face towards Allen who was smiling apologetically at her with that stunning smile of his.

"Don't take it too personally okay? Good luck on your mission, now go before you miss the train. Kanda already left." Allen ushered pushing her towards the train that was whizzing by at 80 mph. Mei waved a last goodbye before jumping on top of the train and disappearing into the trees. Lavi and Allen watched the train grow smaller and smaller until there was nothing left, before Allen turned and dropped his face.

"I' have a bad feeling Kanda's just going to leave her out there to die if she makes a mistake, like he did with me!" he rasped, Lavi's bored face fell even more before latching a hand on his shoulder to get him to get a grip.

"Don't compare yourself with her, you're not exactly human when you fight Allen." he reminded him and Allen laughed a bit at ease, still he couldn't help but worry for the sake of those two.

-------

The two leaped off the current train and landed softly on the platform of another when they spotted a man in white in the shadows. He beckoned for them to come and they followed, they were under the bridge when the Finder introduced himself.

"I'm Kusu, I'll going to be your guide today to get to our destination: Venice. I ask that you'd take care of me please." he said bowing his head and Mei laughed.

"Of course, I'm Mei Chang and this is Yu Kanda." she revealed pointing to herself then Kanda who looked at the ground instead. The Finder nodded and readjusted his pack on his back before looking at them again, Mei could feel a smile on the man's lips even though it was covered up by his white uniform.

"Yes, the exorcists from the Order who're in charge of the Venice district. Very well, this way please and hurry or else we'll miss the train." Kusu urged starting to run when he suddenly leaped onto the bridge above them with Kanda and Mei following suit. They ran along the bridge until they heard the whistling of another train come fourth, when it appeared Kusu jumped and disappeared after the train entered beneath the metal platform. Mei and Kanda both went over in the same fashion and landed sprawled on the the metal roof of the running train when Kusu popped open one of the emergency exits and slid in. Mei landed in a very nice part of the train, her eyes darted back and fourth from the light to the individual rooms on her left and right. Kusu pointed one finger at the uniformed workers and they immediately bowed and opened one of the doors to the lavish rooms. This was the good thing about being within the Black Organization was that they had connections to everything from train rides to hotel suites. Kanda immediately sat down and began looking through the records of what they were looking for as Mei put her things under the chairs. She followed suit and sat down quietly opening the documents that Komui left for her to read over. Her brows arched in interest as she read over the tiny printed words, she's never been to Venice before but she heard that the city was sinking. Did it have to do anything with the Innocence that they might be looking for? Her eyes scanned the rest of the paper before she put them down and reread them carefully.

"A Moguika... that's what we're looking for?" Kanda muttered, Mei chould hear the confusion in his tone before her eyes went back to the papers when she realized something.

"Oh!" she uttered when Kanda looked up in little surprise, Mei picked up the file and brought it up to her eyes to reread what she thought the words were telling her. "It can't be that easy..." she scratched her chin then put the folder down and smiled. "I got it." she told him triumphantly with a raised finger.

"What," he finally asked with dark eyes at her telling her it better be good. She sighed at his lack of patience before getting a deck of cards out from her case.

"A deck of cards." he stated with a monotone voice, Mei rolled her eyes at him and pointed to the deck of cards.

"Mo gui ka." she told him again and he looked at her with his veins popping out in annoyance at her for taking up his time for such stupid information.

"That's what I just said." he said through gritted teeth, his hands on Mugen and flares of anger aura was surrounding him. Mei looked at him irritatingly, he was worse than Lavi.

"Before you go dicing me to pieces, that's what the Innocence is, a deck of cards. It's pronounced in three characters not one. It's in a Chinese dialect from East Asia. '麼鬼卡', Renee told me once about it. I heard it's a deck of cards that has the ability to detect akumas from afar and attack it's target relentlessly until it's foe is no more. It also acts as a defense system by covering the holder of the card when being attacked. The cards can be formed into anything the holder wishes it to be, granting it's wielder unlimited power to his or her imagination." she explained writing the three characters down on the corner of the paper. Kanda leaned in and looked at the words she wrote down, Mei's fluent handwriting flicked at the last dot of the character before she stopped. "Usually associated with the names like the Demon Deck or Mahoune Kado. It's because it's killed so many people that it's been dubbed such names." she looked up at him with a wry grin, "Aren't you glad you didn't try to kill me too early?" she joked and he made a face at her. His hands were up and intertwined over his lips as he looked at her darkly.

"The only reason I can think of of having an Innocence all the way out there in Venice from the East was that the holder probably fled." he spoke out pulling the stack of papers back out and looking at them. Mei shrugged at him at that piece of info.

"I wouldn't know, there could multiple reasons as to why it's in Venice. So let's do our best yeah?" she said happily was a thrust of her fist, Kanda just grunted in agreement. If they did their best... If they found the Innocence and brought it back, she'd get to go home to where people were waiting for her with smiling faces.

------

"Allen... You're doing it again." Lavi said said giving him an annoyed face, his hand leaned against his face that was propped up by his arm. Allen looked back at Lavi with a confused face at what he was talking about.

"I'm doing what?" he asked him with a nervous smile. Lavi pointed to his hand and he looked down momentarily to realize that he was pulling on Timcanpi like a stretchy ball.

"You're pulling the life out of poor Timcanpi there," Lavi replied with a bored face and Allen let the little go with a start.

"I'm sorry Timcanpi I didn't mean to!" he apologized as Tim flew out of his hands dizzily and landed on the table. He looked out the window of the train they sat in; his hands grabbed tightly at his coat's fabric.

"Are you still worried about them? They'll be fine, didn't you hear Komui, don't underestimate Mei and with Kanda I have a feeling that they're gonna kick some akuma ass." Allen sighed at Lavi's words and leaned back into the dark red fabric of the car seats and closed his eyes letting the steady rhythm of the train tracks calm his unstable mind. Lavi looked at the younger boy and huffed through his nose, for a boy of almost 16 he sure worried a lot about his superiors more than he valued his own life. Lavi's eyes moved outside towards the fast shifting greenery and narrowed his eyes. What a hypocrite he was because deep down he was worrying for their sake too, a strange feeling that he didn't usually get. Somehow he couldn't wait until they all got back from their missions and he'd be able to see her happy face again.


	5. In the Face of Darkness Again

A/N: Wishful thinking- That I owned Lavi, but I don't. T x T what a horrible thought. Please guys... Review! I like reviews! It's the only thing that keeps me going! xD

Chapter 5: In the Face of Darkness

"Kukuku, seems like we have a welcome party for us." Mei laughed darkly as Kanda and her stepped off the train. Kusu was behind the two, away from the approaching men and women that seemed to stagger forward in a very unpleasing way. "Disgusting vermin." Mei smiled up brightly, it was unnerving even for Kanda for a girl to smile like that while saying something so awful. Mei dropped her case on the side and cracked her fingers as if she was getting ready for work. "Let's dance." The former form of the humans ripped off as grotesque features began to take form where the humans once stood and attacked.

_'Innocence Invocation!'_

Kanda's usual black sheath of a sword disappeared as he leaped into the air without a sound and Mei's body burst into flames "Come and get it pretties!" she called out as the flames receded and a flaming whip was held in her hand.

"More targeting, less talking. Fool." Kanda called out taking out three in front of him with an annoyed face, suddenly her whip flew past him inches away from his face and latched onto a level 1 akuma and struck it down.

"Really Kanda, pay attention will you?" she giggled as she dropped to earth, when two others grabbed her foot, "Shit!" as they pulled her plummeting to earth at a faster pace. Kanda shook his head at her before going after her with Mugen in his hand, ready to strike.

"Saiyaku Shourai!" he called out and slashed forward the sword and released a cut that emitted almost dragon like monsters. "Ichigen..." the world below her erupted into flames of screaming akumas as the ones binding her legs were hit. He scooped her from the air and landed back on the platform. They watched as the fire roared before them as Kanda dropped her down on her feet. He pointed his sword at her with an angry face and she glowered at him.

"What?" she asked him, how dare he point that thing at her! His sword was not covered in that black lacquer of a shield as he prodded her shoulder with it.

"Don't you EVER do that again." he threatened her, he pushed his weapon away from her and stuck a tongue out at him in a childish manner.

"At least I saved your ass." she mumbled walking away, her hands itself swept over the burning area and collected the fire in her hand and smothered it until it was out. He wasn't the type to ask but her Innocence really was an interesting one, he's never seen one like hers before. She kneeled down on a burnt out corpse and laid her hand on the remaining white clothing that was left.

"Poor Kusu... May your soul find salvation with thy Lord." she whispered with her eyes closed, "We weren't even able to protect the Finder, how do we expect ourselves to protect the humans?" she asked angrily. Kanda sighed, he hated to listen to these kind of gibberish- He got it from Lenalee and Komui now he had to get it from this brat too?

"All we can do is try, so let's go already. Venice is waiting." he told her starting to walk again, Mei rubbed her eyes of the tears that were threatening to spill over and stood up running after Kanda.

_How long can we just keep trying before everything goes up in flames?_

------

Allen shielded his eyes from the sun as he overlooked the town from the blue green statue, it was amazing from up here! The wind blew over his face as a smile crept up on his lips and laughed. It's been awhile since he's felt so great. Not with all the nonsense dealing with the 14th and being 'The Musician' crap.

"Lyon is gorgeous Lavi!" he called out over the wind that was hitting the two boys in the face as Lavi broke out laughing. His read hair whipping in the sunlight, another of shocking white. They could see the two rivers of Rhone and Saone intersecting the city giving it a special quality look to the small inland city.

"I'm surprised that Link didn't come with us this time," Lavi stated pulling on his head band from falling. Allen looked over his shoulder and shrugged, he preferred it this way, he didn't want the Central Branch lackeys to get in his way, not saying that Link was a bad person and all but it can get suffocating sometimes. "The last time it was just you and me, we found Krory. I wonder what might happen this time around." Lavi wondered out loud as Allen pointed to the bottom and they both hooked onto Lavi's hammer and shot down.

"We're just gonna have to find out don't we?" Allen cried out over the rushing wind that racing past his face. They landed with a loud thump as they took in their surroundings, it was eerily quiet the street they landed on.

"For a city like Lyon, this place is pretty quiet." Lavi investigated with his vision up and down the street. Allen stepped up and scanned the area with his left eye and saw nothing, it was just empty.

"It's still noon, probably at the riverside at this time..." Allen guessed looking up at the sky above him with the sun shining down. The two settled to find the markets that would be open on the riverside at this time as they started their journey ahead.

"Hey... Is it me or is it getting awfully dark for this time of day?" Lavi pointed out towards the sky that was turning a shade of gray. The two stopped, Lavi had his hand on his mallet and Allen's arm turned rigid. A haze descended upon them as Allen's eyes acted to it's own accord.

"We've got company." Allen warned standing his ground, the fog was getting thicker by the minute soon the whole city was covered in the dense haze that you couldn't see farther than several feet ahead of you. A dark object began to come rushing at them at high speed billowing through the fog but still shrouded enough that Lavi and Allen couldn't be sure if it was an akuma or not when suddenly a burning akuma burst through flaming and screaming before disappearing into ashes. The two boys stared at the empty space before glancing up at the approaching figures.

"No need to use so much power... It was only a level one." a voice came out sharply at the other one standing next to him. Both Lavi and Allen recognized the voice immediately and looked at each other perplexed by their situation.

"Look who's talking!" the other girl voice retorted angrily. This time Allen and Lavi both had to do a double take before getting the voices processed in their minds.

"Kanda?!" they both shouted in unison and the figures momentarily stopped in their tracks before walking again coming out of the haze.

"Bean sprout? And baka usagi?" Kanda's voice echoed out loudly against the wet haze. Mei appeared behind him in a confused state.

"It's... ALLEN YOU DOLT!" Allen shouted punching Kanda in the face as a bruise began to welt, no sooner as it started it ended up a brawl.

"Uh... ahaha, guys..." Mei started with a worried face and trying to inch closer to stop the two when Lavi pulled her back and lightly put his chin on top of her head with his arms around her waist stopping her from interfering. He laughed lightly at the fight before him.

"Ah, this is going to take a while. It's best not to interfere." Lavi told her, she looked up at him and frowned. That wasn't what she wanted them to stop for, they could fight until their deaths each for all she cares, but right now they had bigger problems.

"I wasn't talking about that Lavi." she said in a complaining voice, the two were still at it at the moment; she turned around and faced him. "We don't exactly have the upper hand right now you dummy. We're on the Earl's territory now!" she said urgently, she flung herself back as an akuma attacked from behind him. "Lavi!" Right then white belts came fourth behind her and shot through the akuma and shredded it to pieces. Mei looked back with a grateful smile as more and more akumas began to tear through the fog. This was pretty bad, they couldn't exactly see how many there were in the mist.

"20.. No, 40... 60... 75... 100... There's more than I can count!" Allen called out, Kanda, Lavi, Mei, and Allen all backed up until each hit the other's back.

"Piece of cake," Lavi grinned pulling out his mallet the size of a toy, Kanda had his sword out already, Allen activated his arm and eye and Mei's fingers were already lit with flames.

_'Innocence Invocation!'_

Allen's arm radiated white light as a white cape adorned his shoulder with a golden mask of that of a clown. The famous Crown Clown has appeared! Lavi's mallet grew larger and larger until it was unrealistically large and was smashing away at akumas at an increasingly fast speed. Mei's Phoenix Fire was already burning away at her will as her whip lashed out at her enemies. Kanda shot into the air and released his fist illusion again and wiped out a portion of the akumas but only to have more reappear. Mei took one out before her when another attacked from behind and striking her on her back, she flew across the street and hit the building on the other side. She staggered upward and coughed as blood spluttered out, she used the back of her hand and wiped it away.

"Mei!" she heard Lavi's voice call out as he swatted another akuma's attack back at it, she looked up with a half smile. Everything was hurting like hell, she must've hit her head too hard on the brick wall. She shook her head out and unleashed her fiery wrath as her footsteps melted the asphalt beneath her.

"You alright?" Allen called, but no sooner had he spoke a disfigured two headed akuma lashed out at him and hit in square in the jaw.

"What you exorcists get for interfering." it taunted, Mei's eyes flashed dangerously, her teeth bared in a wide grin. She cracked her neck and sent a spiraling ball of black fire at it, in a spilt second later where the akuma once stood was nothing but the rubbles of what once was. Allen was sprawled on the ground when Mei ran up to him with a worried look, she shook his shoulder lightly.

"Allen...? Don't tell me you're dead already." She said helplessly, his eyes opened up and he glanced up at her with a 'are you kidding me' smile and gave her a thumbs up.

"What's with the expression? You thought that little punch was going to take me out? Get real." he sat up and brushed himself off, he looked at Kanda who was fighting airborne ones and Lavi was taking the east side ones.

"Goodness gracious, what the Earl do? Turn the whole friggin city into an akuma infested nest?" Lavi muttered burning a bunch on the street. Kanda landed just a few feet away and looked over his shoulder and tsked.

"There's too many of them..." he said, "We'll have to regroup and sort this out." he instructed, they all looked around. There was no way out of this situation, in other words they were surrounded. Just when things seemed impossible a glow from the far side of the dark city, a single light shimmered and flew above the exorcists.

"What the...?" Kanda mumbled looking up with shielded arms, the card didn't hesitate twice before it shook and began to multiple. Soon the 4 were circled in by the glowing cards and in another second it exploded outward.

"Holy...!" Mei coughed out from the rubble when she heard a voice call out to them.

"This way!" a tug of her arm told her to run, she didn't know where but she let whoever was dragging her take lead. The debris settled revealing a mass of destroyed akumas on the ground, but it didn't mean they were out for the count. Mei opened her eyes to see Allen, Lavi, and Kanda following someone up front and that Lavi was tugging for her to follow suit when she tripped.

"Ah!" she fell forward, skinning her knee. The others looked back, Kanda more irritated than ever and Allen with a worry stricken expression. The younger boy that was at the very lead looked panic stricken at her, he had light brown hair that was wind blown and light blue eyes that wavered fear. "Sorry, you guys can go..." she winced trying to get up.

"That won't do." came Lavi's voice, she looked up at him and he was smiling down at her behind that dirt covered face as he kneeled down with his back facing her. "Get on." he ordered.

"But-" she stammered, trying to think of another way to do this.

"There's no time for you to be stubborn, just get on dammit!" Kanda told her, Lavi didn't even wait for her to argue back before picking her up and started to run. They turned into an alley and ducked into a cellar door that was opened up for them. The kid shut the door after Lavi got in and struck a match lighting a lantern in his hand. He motioned at them to move forward and they followed, they exited at the other end into a deeper portion of the cellar when they saw a young woman sitting on the floor packing things under a similar lantern light. She looked up at their footsteps, at first her face was scared then relief when she saw the boy come forward.

"Nee-chan! Look who I brought! The people with the crosses!" he told her brightly, the young woman threw her arms around the boy and scolded him about going out during times when the akumas were out. She looked at the 4 young exorcists and gasped, they were no younger than 18! Her attention averted to the young man with flaming red hair and the girl on his back, she saw that her legs were injured and brought out what they had of an first aid kit.

"Please, if you'll let me." she told him kindly and Lavi set Mei down gently before her. Allen sat down with a sigh, what a start to their journey, Lavi leaned against the dark walls and Kanda sat on one of the crates.

"You're exorcists." the woman stated firmly applying a gauze to Mei's knees, she winced then said a small thank you when she was done. She put the box behind her and stood up pulling the young boy by the hand. "I'm Sonya and this is my little brother Pierre, I'm sure you've seen his little talent by now." The four teens looked at each other with the same thought. The Innocence was here.


	6. Midday in Lyon & Venice

A/N: Kukukuku (: there's gonna be a new Innocence in battle soon, so review that way I can be motivated to write another chapter!

Chapter 6: Midday in Lyon & Venice

"I thought we're in Lyon." Lavi said confusedly scratching his head, they were settled in the mucky darkness as Pierre was sent for some water at the other room where storage was held.

"We were on our way to Venice." Mei pointed out looking at Kanda, and he nodded with a small grunt. Sonya looked at the ground before raising her head and brushing her curly blonde hair from her face.

"This is what me and Pierre call: The Inbetween." Sonya started, "It is Lyon, yet it changes, if you take a look at your surroundings that it's also Venice." Allen's eyes went dark for a moment in interest, Mei's eyes widened in curiosity.

"But we were **in **Lyon, me and Lavi were there." Allen stated now a bit confused at the situation. Sonya sighed, she looked at Pierre with a smile as he came back in with 4 small cups of water. Pierre passed it out to the four and sat back down near his sister, blocking out his face with her blouse.

"You must've entered through the mist that surrounds this place, I don't know how but I can only say that you did." Sonya told him helplessly. "This is a vortex between Lyon and Venice, if I'm making any sense. We can't get out, every time we try we end up where we started off. It changes every now and then, sometimes we'd be in Lyon sometimes we'd be back in Venice."

"Our anti-akuma weapons are attracted to akumas in the surrounding area, must've pulled us in." Kanda spoke out with additional info, it was always like him to understand the present problems better than most. "But why these two cities?"

"Venice and Lyon were the last cities we were in... They're looking for us and so now they've rounded up where we've last been and cornered us like a rat in a trap." Sonya said bitterly, "It's all because of those cards..." Pierre shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Sonya said this, Mei noticed the sad face that was worn by the small boy when his face fell into the light.

"May we ask where you got them?" Allen asked politely and Sonya looked up at the white haired boy, he resembled such as an angel- No wonder he was God's apostle.

"Daddy gave them to me." Pierre spoke up, his hands trembling at his sides as he looked up at Allen in the eyes. "He gave them to me before he left." there was a bit of longing in his voice that Allen detected.

"But the card's originated from Asia, how'd it get into your hands?" Kanda asked bluntly that had Pierre scurrying behind his older sister again. Mei shot him an angry look which he returned with pleasure.

"My father... Our family is a traveling entertainment show, our father was traveling back from the East when a strange man gave him these cards as payment for a small show my father did for him. Told him: _'Give it to the little one.' _he thought it funny at first, but brushed it off when he came back to Europe. That's when we found out that Pierre had talents in the cards, it was like they reacted to every fluid motion he made. We made a fortune with his addition of the cards. Everything was fine until we left Venice, those monsters started coming after us... Wanted Pierre's cards, but he couldn't find it in himself to give it to them. Mom and dad died along the way, trying to protect us- It was then that I started hating the stupid cards, I hated them so much..." her voice was breaking and tears began to fall down her face, her hands covered her cheeks as Pierre looked helplessly at her crying older sister. Everyone was silent, this war that's started; it's got everybody involved in it and it's hurting the innocent lives that weren't meant to have fallen into this disgraceful war with the Earl.

"But you haven't become an akuma yourself," Lavi said suddenly, usually victims of dead loved ones would mourn and yearn for the dead and so creating more akumas for the Earl's army. Sonya looked up at him with angry tear stained eyes as if he had insulted her greatly and Lavi backed away.

"I would never become one of those monsters, for the sake of Pierre and the love of my parents!" she told him angrily, Lavi raised his hands up in a placate way and apologized. She pulled Pierre into her lap and hugged him tightly, "I may have hated his powers then, but it's the only thing that's protecting us right now." she said softly.

"We're here to take the Innocence back to HQ." Kanda said with a neutral look, "We'll exterminate the bugs that's here and let you go on on you merry way alright?"

"Wait... But he's already invocated with his Innocence, we won't find another conformer for it if we take it! Are you out of your mind with that suggestion Kanda!" Mei cried out sitting up only to wince at the sudden pain in her legs. Lavi stood up and helped her up, she leaned into his arms for support but still disbelieving at what Kanda had said. Allen stood up from the midst of the arguing and kneeled down to where Sonya and Pierre sat with a gentle smile.

"Would you like to come with us?" he asked extending a white gloved hand out, Sonya looked at his hand before slowly taking it and standing up shakily.

"Really.. Will we be able to get out of this god forsaken realm?" she asked hopefully with Pierre in her arms. Allen just smiled sweetly at her before the tears came again, finally a new hope arises in the midst of darkness.

-----

"He's so young though... To become an exorcist at that age." she murmured with a melancholy tone that was making Lavi's neck shiver from her depressing mood. It was like watching Miranda try to drown herself for something she didn't do. He looked back on his shoulder at the moping girl that was on his back and sighed. She's been like this the whole way since Sonya and Pierre came out from their hiding place deciding to go back to HQ with them.

"He won't become one until he comes of age, it seems he's already got a vague idea on how to use his Innocence, all he need is practice. It'll be some years before he joins the front line exorcists." Kanda spoke out suddenly without looking at the two.

"Still~~" she whined kicking her feet making Lavi stumble over.

"Don't move so much Mei!" he told her readjusting her weight on his back, she mumbled a sorry before burrowing herself into his neck again with a pout. A shock of electricity shot through Lavi's body when her hand touched the nape of his neck, she noticed the sudden jolt and looked over at him with a worried glance.

"You okay?" she asked, suddenly her face fell a bit, "I'm getting heavy aren't I? I'll get off now..." she said trying to push herself away from him. When he shook his head with a laugh.

"It's not that, you're not heavy at all, just lost my balance for awhile there." he lied, she frowned at him as they continued walking forward in haste to find an exit. He couldn't tell her that she made him jump like that. He didn't even know what just had happened back there, it was like her touch sent a million little sparks through his body. Lavi felt blood rush to his face when he realized a fact, his body was reacting to her _touch_.

"Lavi... You're awfully warm, are you sure you're okay?" she asked, her small hand touched his cheek and his mind felt like it short circuited. _'GAH! Don't touch me like that!' _his mind screamed uselessly, he suddenly dropped her like a bomb and she hit the ground with a thump. "Ow! Warned me sooner if you were going to drop me!" she told him standing up and patting her bottom and giving him a glare before wobbling over to the front. Allen looked back at the two and laughed a bit, those two were so silly- it's times like theses that a little laughter can raise the spirit.

"We've got to move faster... They're coming onee-chan!" Pierre told her pulling on the hem of her shirt, his grip on his card holder tightened. Sonya looked up at the gray sky worriedly and rasped out a breath before speeding up her pace with the exorcists in front. The ground rumbled and it stopped when Sonya looked up with wide eyes and an open mouth.

"Run!" she shouted, Mei felt the ground shake again before it fell to pieces below her and a large akuma appeared before her with a half body of a mutated snake and the other of wirings springing from it's chest. She looked up at it from the ground and gasped, Lavi turned to find Mei on the floor in front of the akuma.

"Allen! Mei's fallen behind- I'm going to go get her!" he called out, but before he could do anything Mei's voice came over in the form of a scream. The three guys turned their head suddenly to see Mei's body slumped between the fingers of the large akuma that was laughing hysterically.

"I forgot that exorcists were such fragile creatures, like humans! What delight in killing one!" it cried out before throwing her seemingly lifeless body behind him like waste. She never hit the ground when a white angel flew over the akuma's shoulder and caught Mei in his arm. Allen in his invocated state looked up angrily at the akuma when another blow of the wind revealed a battle ready Kanda and Lavi, both pretty pissed looking.

"Oy, these things are so annoying." Lavi muttered with his mallet over his shoulder and Kanda right behind him shielding Sonya and Pierre. "Take Sonya, Pierre, and Mei out of here. Me and Kanda can handle this thing here." Allen nodded before leaping into the air and landing behind the two others and picked up Sonya who had Pierre in her arms.

"Sorry." Allen told her with a smile, he leaped into the air again and was off into the distance leaving Kanda and Lavi with the level three.

"You've picked the wrong person to piss off today." Lavi grinned pointing the large mallet at the level three, "Bring it."

----

_'Am I dead...? I don't... Remember. Maybe I am, that's too bad- There was so many things I wanted to do. So many things I wanted to say... Now it's too late. Damn it I was only 17! I wonder what Allen will do... Lenalee, Kanda... That silly Komui too... And, Lavi. I wonder what they'll do when the war's over. I hope it ends soon so people like Pierre won't have to see the ugly side of life, I still say he's too young. Man... I want to live, even if it means I have to stay at HQ in London, I don't really mind... Just please God... Let me live and fight._'

"I think she's coming to," a voice came ringing into her ears, a touch of coldness was pressed on her forehead when another voice entered her hearing range.

"Damn I thought she was really dead back there, like really dead!" he cried out in a hysteric voice. The guy's voice it sounds so familiar, so familiar...

Mei opened her eyes slowly and looked up at the shabby ceiling before and used one of her arms to cover her eyes from the sudden light that was coming through the broken window on her left.

"Miss Mei? Thank goodness you're awake!" Sonya's voice came from her left, "Miss Mei! Oh no! What's wrong? Why are you crying!" she asked touching her hand. Why was she crying? Was she crying because God heard her prayers or was it because she was glad that she was alive? Maybe it was a little bit of both.

"Hey. You feeling better?" Lavi touched her arm gently and she looked at him, he was pretty banged up looking from the fresh bruises on his cheeks. She pushed herself up and looked at Allen who was sitting in front of her and Kanda who was on her right. They all looked like they had a long night, and she wasn't able to be there for them.

"Lavi was worried about you all night Mei. I've never seem him so worked up over a small concussion." Allen teased, Lavi's face turned beet red when he turned his attention back to Mei.

"You guys looked like you had a tough night, you're all beat up. I'm sorry I wasn't there." Mei said softly raising a hand to Lavi's bruised and dusty face, he smiled touching her hand with his.

"We're okay, as long as you're safe- We get to go home happy." he told her, the tears wouldn't hold themselves back in anymore, they let themselves fall freely down her cheeks like a massive waterfall.

"Hey! Hey... No more waterworks!" Lavi told her, the other 4 were giving him the 'You made her cry' look, he patted her back and laughed. "We made it out so no more crying."

_This feeling of being alive... It's more than I could ever ask for._

x x x

"I never thought I'd get to see the sun again." Sonya told the exorcists, she was looking up at the blue sky of Lyon before her with Pierre in her hand. Mei was happy to see that they were able to set free those bound to that dreary world, plus they found an additional conformer of an Innocence, won't Komui be proud.

"About the Innocence..." Allen started when Sonya and Pierre turned to look at them with a smile and shook her head.

"It's not my decision to make, I'll let Pierre decide what he wants to do with it." Pierre took the deck of cards out from the deck holder on his small waist and began to hand them over to Allen when a cracking noise from behind caught them off guard.

"Sonya!" Allen yelled out reaching his arm out trying to stop the akuma that has resurfaced from the 'Inbetween' realm. Pierre turned around, his little round eyes turned even wider as he watched the akuma reach for his sister.

"Onee-channnn!" Pierre turned around running forward when the cards in his hand flashed a devastating light.


	7. The Awakening of a New Innocence!

A/N: Surprise! Read then review! You know the drill!

Chapter 7: The Awakening of a new Innocence!

_You've always protected me onee-chan, even though you say it's all my doing... It was you. It was you that sung me to sleep at night when I cried for mother and father. It was you that gave me love when I turned around and no one was there. You held my hand when I fell, you smiled at me when I cried. For that I want to protect you with all my heart, because you are all I've got left in this world and so I want to fight for you._

"Onee-channn!" Pierre screamed out with his tiny fists clutched around the demonic deck of cards when suddenly it flashed a light so blinding that it left the 4 young exorcists destitute in vision. When the light died out the scene before them had them speechless, there stood young Pierre holding back a level two akuma with his newly invocated anti-akuma weapon which has separated itself to a shield to cover his sister. The weapon used was his cards connected together vertically forming a long chain like instrument strapping down his opponent.

"Geez, for a kid he's pretty strong." Lavi complimented with a smirk, in seconds he invocated his Tessei with Mei, Allen, and Kanda on his side. "I think the kid needs a little help, don't you think?" he asked nobody in particular. Sonya looked up from her spot and saw Pierre out there struggling against something with that deck of his that was giving off a strange glow. He protected her? A small smile formed on her lips, he was always such a good kid.

"Pierre! Stay back!" she screamed at him from under the card shield, he looked up at her with scared eyes as he saw the monster before him laughing. He was losing control fast, his body hurt so much and his arm felt like it wanted to break off, but he can't he has to protect Sonya! He shut his eye and prayed, prayed to God that they were going to survive.

"You can let go now Pierre." a soft gentle voice passed his ears as his eyes opened up to see Allen flying over his head smiling down like a white angel from heaven. Three others followed the same manner all giving him the okay to release his cards except for the last one, the dark angel that protects the innocent.; Instead of smiling he gave him a look that calmed his throbbing heart.

"We'll take it from here." Mei assured him, the red head gave him a grin and a thumbs up before going forward on his large hammer. Pierre released his power on the cards as they came back to him, there was a last thought he wanted to tell them...

"PLEASE! PROTECT MY SISTER WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!" he shouted hopefully loud enough that they heard, now his lungs were on fire too. Allen looked back at the diminishing child and nodded.

"I will." he replied, "Now let's finish this guys." Mei let her flaming whip out and straggled the akuma around the neck.

"Whip of Shiva!" she called out letting the flames increase from her hand down to the akuma her whip was currently attached to. "Kanda! Lavi!" Kanda took her signal and pulled out Mugen and sliced the akuma to pieces and Lavi let the fire seal out on the victim as it burned away in the sunlight. Sonya looked up at the sky when she felt the ground rumble again and her eyes went wide, no.. Not another one! She looked blindly from side to side to see where it was coming from when it came floating from the ground.

"PIERRE!" Sonya cried out desperately leaving her spot on the ground, Allen turned at her sound and gritted his teeth. There was another level three akuma standing right behind Pierre, and the child has no idea that it's going for him.

"Clown Belt!" Allen called out releasing his attack hoping to catch the other's attack on time. _'Please let me get there...'_

"KACHAK!" red liquid splattered all over Pierre's chest, his breathing almost nonexistent as he watched his sister smile down at him, her body a bloody mess. The akuma's attack had landed right on top of her, at the same time Allen's Clown Belt struck through the level three's steel armor. Allen's eyes went wide at his timing, _'No...! NO!' _he pulled the belts hard shattering the akuma, but he was already too late.

"O...Onee-chan... No..." he stammered reaching up to her pale face, her blonde locks cascading down gently on him. She coughed and more blood slipped through her once pink lips.

"I'm... I'm so...sorry Pierre." she uttered out in between hacks of blood, she fell sideways and Pierre clamored to her side bringing her head on his small knees. "I... I couldn't protect you all the way. I'm such a lousy sister..." she laughed. Mei's fire died out as she descended upon Earth on Lavi's extensive mallet. Allen was already at the foot of the two siblings with his head down in disgrace of himself. Kanda had quietly slipped into the shadow, it was moments like these that he hated- he didn't tell anyone but it was the worse part about the mission when you can't save someone.

"Pierre... Listen to me," she said softly taking his hand in her blood soaked ones, "When I go... Remember what mama and papa taught us, don't be sad- always think of the happy moments. Instead of thinking..." she gasped for air momentarily making Pierre shake even more, it seemed he was too shocked to even cry. The pentacles were starting their take over over her body. "Pierre, think of the moments where we were the most happy... Be happy Pierre and please don't be afraid to move on... Just... Don't forget...me..." her skin turned an ashy red as she smiled one last time at Pierre before turning into dust in his small hands. _"I love you Pierre..."_ his hands were shaking so bad, the tears, the pain- everything came rushing at him like an angry ocean. Kanda looked away with closed eyes, Allen was speechless at the scene before him. His heart ached so bad, he had made a promise to him and he wasn't even able to protect her. His one request. Mei gripped onto the sleeve of Lavi's torn uniform and bit her lips as she watched the child wail where his sister once laid.

"Lavi... This is hard." she told him. The tall bookman didn't say anything, he pulled the shaking dark haired girl to his side as she silently wept for the deceased.

-----

"I see, is that all to the report, Lyon and Venice's incidents were from the same Innocence?" Komui asked solemnly. Mei nodded, her head kept down and her hands tightly clasped on her lap as she stood in front of Komui in his office. Komui looked at Mei and her battered state and sighed, the rest had sustained minor injuries as well. The only one that had taken the worse hit was the child. He scribbled something down before him with Mei standing silently before him. She couldn't bare to look up, her mind was numb from the events before, she just wanted to slip into her comfy bed and fall into an eternal sleep where none of this Innocence and Earl stuff existed. When they had finished in Lyon and made a proper burial site for Sonya they headed back to headquarters with Pierre in tow. He had no other family other than his remaining sister and the fact that he has a piece of Innocence made him a target. The surprising thing is Pierre made up his mind, he was going to with them to become an exorcist that will one day save others from the pain that he went through in losing his whole family. He wanted to grow up to become a strong exorcist that will fight for the people that deserved to live. With that goal in mind the 5 boarded the train and headed home back to the Order. Lenalee and the others had been at the door to greet them and the first thing she did was run up to Allen and gave him a big hug and welcoming him home. He needed it, he really needed someone to tell him that he was finally home because then it was the first time she had seen a guy cry like Allen did.

"How is he?" Komui asked taking his glasses off, Mei knew that Komui hadn't meant Pierre as the child was still asleep in the infirmary. He was talking about Allen. Allen hadn't been himself since they arrived back and no one could seem to cheer him up. Lenalee seemed to be the only one to get Allen to eat anything, Mei felt horrible. She couldn't imagine the pain he was going through, the things that he has to see with that cursed eye of his and having to fight to the brink of death every time a Noah appeared. Also having to hear the prophecy of his life eroding away due to being 'The Musician'.

"I don't know, he's with Lenalee right now..." She answered him, Komui turned around with flashing eyes and a large gadget in hand as if ready to strike. Mei gave him an uneasy look and stepped away.

"I didn't mean it like that Head Chief Komui." she corrected herself, "Lenalee is trying to get him to eat. He's condemning himself for Sonya's death because of the promise he made." she explained. Komui sighed, he should've known that that was the case. Allen had habit of taking the burden onto his shoulders whenever there was a death in a mission. A life he couldn't save. He bears the pressure of all their lives in his heart, sometimes even Komui wonders what it takes to fight like Allen Walker.

"He's too kind." he murmured lightly, his hands over his eyes as if covering a secret emotion with a small laugh escaping his lips.

x

Allen's hair whipped slightly in the wind that passed by as he sat on the stone rails of the hallways looking out towards the city of London with a deadpan expression. The same words kept echoing in his head since they came back from their last mission. _'I couldn't save her.'_ To have lost everything at such a young; Allen sighed leaning on his arm for support. Timcanpi was dozing on top of his white mass of hair when he closed his gray blue eyes and just fell to listening to the trees around the London headquarters.

"Are you still moping?" a voice asked from behind. Allen turned around at the voice and saw a little boy with mocha color hair look at him through hard blue eyes. It was Pierre. Allen smiled lightly at him, "How did you know that I was here?" he asked him. Pierre climbed up next to him and plopped down on the stone rails.

"Lenaleenee-chan told me, you know the all the onee-chans and nii-sans are worried about you." Pierre said looking out into the horizon of the city, his small hand taking out the deck from his newly given Black Order holder. Allen looked down at the boy and sighed, he can't seem to face him about the topic on his sister, he wanted to say he was sorry that he couldn't save her when he was the exorcist that was suppose to protect the humans. "Please don't be sad over Sonyanee-chan." he glanced up at the older boy and smiled, his cards glowed from his hands as they surrounded him like a small halo of light. "You feel bad that you couldn't keep my request right? It's not your fault nii-san, it's my fault that Sonya died. Because I was weak she had to protect me, that's why I'm going to grow strong one day and be just like you Allen." he revealed. Allen stared at the child before him, never had he seen such strength come from a mere child at this age. It was like he was radiating a sort of light that just made you feel warm inside. He plopped a hand on top of the child's head and fussed up his soft light brown hair.

"You're a good kid." he said through a grin. Pierre just gave him a smile before getting down and collecting his cards back into the case. "Where are you going?" he asked looking behind him. Pierre bowed and Allen turned around in curiosity at his action.

"I was here to say goodbye, I'm being moved to the Oceania Branch of the organization to be taken under Branch Head Andrew Nansen's order." Pierre told him, "Thanks for everything, you were able to keep your promise after all you know. Goodbye Allen Walker! Next time we meet, I'm going to be a strong exorcist!" he called out to Allen, he had started to run with a goofy smile on his face.

"Okay then! It's a deal! You better be a strong or else I'm going to kick your butt Pierre!" he answered with a wave of goodbye. Pierre's small body disappeared down the next hallway as he leaned back on his arms and tilted his head back. Timcanpi came alive before it fell off his head and started fluttering around and landing on his shoulder.

"He forgave me..."


	8. A Reason to Fight and Go On

A/N: R&R

Chapter 8: A Reason to Fight and Go On

The knock came softly so she only assumed that it was going to be Lenalee coming to check up on her. "Mei..?" her gentle voice rang though the wooden door and Mei tried moving her body but only pain responded. She knew this was going to happen, it always did when she over it did it with her Innocence, the Phoenix Fire. If she pushed herself too far her body would react to what Renee called: a meltdown. It was where her muscle and joints would tighten up so bad that the holder would suffer the next few days until his or her body returned to normal.

"Damn..." she uttered under the blankets, she couldn't move and she was damed hungry from not getting breakfast since she couldn't really move. It was a good thing Komui gave them a couple of weeks off from each mission they take on to recuperate. Mei managed to push the blankets off and stumbled far enough to lean against the wall; breathing heavily already.

"Mei, you haven't come out of your room for a while now, is everything okay?" she asked, "Pierre's been discharged early from the infirmary and wanted to say goodbye to you today, but you never came. He's been dispatched to the Oceania branch." she informed her. Mei smiled, wow, the Order really did get things done fast even though the Head Chief was somewhat of a slacker sometimes when it came to his paper work.

"Mei...?" the girl standing outside became worried with the silence as she knocked again. No one has seen Mei since a few days back, Lenalee had gotten worried so she came to check up on her only to find the door locked. There was a sudden thump from indoor that scared Lenalee into thinking that Mei was doing something crazy. She tried the door knob again, but still it was locked. "Mei? Open up! You okay in there?" there was a feeling of dread that was crawling into Lenalee's stomach when she couldn't get the door open. Something was wrong. "I'm coming in!" Lenalee said, "Excuse the intrusion!" she called out as she busted the door open with her Black Boots, there on the floor was a gasping Mei that was burning up by the second.

Infirmary---

"Ah, her fever isn't going down... This is troublesome." the Head Nurse muttered as she took down some notes for Mei's next medication check. Lenalee was sitting next to the girl that was heaving slightly under the white blankets with a wet towel on her forehead. It had to be constantly changed as Mei's body was just too warm for it to stay cool for too long. Allen was standing behind Lenalee patting her shoulder and looking worried. Lenalee had taken Mei's hand in hers and held it tightly.

"We should've figured this out sooner," she mumbled sadly, "Why did Mei hide it from us...?" Allen couldn't answer the girl's question, he knew that Lenalee valued friends above anything else and would be devastated if she ever lost one. They were her world. The door suddenly busted open as Lavi came rushing in like a worried stricken parent.

"Is she okay?" he shouted panting as if he had just run a marathon to get here. The Head Nurse turned around, uh oh.

"HUSH! DO YOU WANT TO WAKE MY PATIENTS?!" The Head Nurse asked with her demonic face on looking angrily at Lavi who now has scurried behind Allen and Lenalee for cover.

"GAH! So scary!" he whined, "I'm sorry Head Nurse!" he apologized with a wave. Lavi went over and pulled a chair to Mei's other side and looked down at the girl that seemingly was struggling with her fever, "How is she?"

"She's burning up... I asked my brother to ask the Head Brach over in North America to see if she knows anything about it. I'm worried." Lenalee expressed thoughtfully with her head down next to Mei.

"We all are Lenalee," Allen soothed sitting next to her. The door once again opened up and Komui stepped in, the three turned with surprised expressions. Lenalee stood up first and ran over to him and gave him a hug.

"Please tell me she's going to be alright. nii-san.." she asked, her face was tinged pink. Komui's hand touched the top of her head in a pat and he gave her a smile. Allen knew that smile, it didn't mean good news, but it didn't mean bad news either. It was a smile that had hidden meanings, it was only there to soften the blow that was about to come.

"There is no way to heal her at the moment..." Komui started, Lenalee's eyes went wide as she looked up at her brother who stared down with a pained look on his face. Lavi was gripping the sheets so tightly that his knuckles were white. He looked at all their scared faces and sighed, "Don't worry, she's not dying.. It's just we don't know when it's going to settle down. From what I hear from Renee, she's going through a meltdown from pushing her Innocence too hard. It may be weeks until she gets up." Komui told them. He walked over to Mei and looked at her through his glasses and smiled, "She's a tough one, so don't worry."

Night fell at the Order when Mei's eyes opened up up a little, she looked a the ceiling and realized that she wasn't in her room. Where was she? She looked around and saw that she was in the infirmary part of the Order. When did she get here? She was in her room earlier, Mei shifted her position and winced, seemed like her bones were still aching when she felt someone's warm hands on hers. She looked down at her right hand and saw a sleeping Lenalee at her side. Her hand was so warm... so warm. Tears trickled down again as she wiped it away with a frown, she really needed to control that habit of hers.

"You really are a crybaby." a voice came from her left and she smiled as the light shone upon that silly red head that she had thought annoying in the earlier weeks when she first transfered over. He walked over and patted her head like a child getting a praise. It felt nice when he made gestures like these, made her feel all soft inside.

"I heard you cried a lot too during last year's missions..." she teased back and he gave her a mocking look of shame.

"Did not!" he retorted back at her and she laughed, but held back as a pain shot through her body and made her double over in a gasp. Lavi rubbed her back gently to soothe her coughing as he looked at her through pained eyes. He didn't know what it was like for the parasitical type, to have to endure the pain with their bodies. She pushed him away slightly and laughed a bit with her heaving breaths.

"Ah, I'm okay Lavi..." she reassured her and his eyes turned a bit dark with a shade of sadness as if she had said something wrong. "Don't give me that face Lavi, I get enough from Lenalee as it is." she told him shifting her pillows so she was leaning against the bed rest.

"Why didn't you tell us about it?" he asked her staring at the ground, Mei looked at him with a blank face then broke out laughing. He looked up at her with a gaping mouth, "I'm not trying to be funny here!" She didn't stop as she covered her mouth, hoping not to wake Lenalee and Allen who was sleeping on the couch across from her bed. She even wiped away the tears that were falling down her face from the laughter.

"I'm.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh so hard at your concerned words." she apologized and his face turned a shade of light pink from her words. Her laugh turned to chuckles until she was just smiling down at her bandaged hands and sighed. "I didn't want you guys to worry unnecessarily for my sake, you know? It's not your burden to bear that I can't really control the consequences of my Innocence." she said silently in the darkness that was only lit by a small lantern at their side, "Really, I think I told Allen this before- You exorcists worry too much." Mei giggled again when she felt the sudden warmth of Lavi's body surrounding her, "La... Lavi!" she gasped out from his sudden hug.

"Why... Why do you guys do this to yourselves?" he asked and Mei looked up at the ceiling surprised at his question. She slowly made her arms around his neck, it wasn't her that needed comforting... All this time it was Lavi that needed someone to hold onto.

"Then... Why do _you _fight Lavi? Why do you push yourself to an extent that your body cries out in pain? Is it only because you're here as a Bookman or because you're an exorcist...?" she asked him with her eyes closed and taking in the warmth of Lavi's body, he had that boy smell that she remembered from the first week she transferred here and she could hear his heart beating in a rhythmic pattern. Slowly... _Thump, thump_...

Lavi, abashed by her reply thought back to the battle they had with the Noahs in the ark, where he pushed his Innocence so far as to wanting to kill himself at the end. The point where Road had stolen his heart and had made him dream of horrible images of his friends, within the coffins- laid the corpse of a thousand. He couldn't remember when he had felt such sadness and suffering, his heart felt like it was corroding to ashes and he himself doubted his existence as a Recorder of history or as an exorcist. It was then that he lost his heart somewhere and vanished momentarily.

"I'm just a stupid Bookman..." he said bitterly, he didn't know when he had stored away so much pain inside himself that he was slowly losing to himself. Mei stroked the top of his head gently like a mother soothing a crying child, her shoulder was wet but she didn't mind. Right now, her heart was aching for Lavi's pain and the pain was a lot harder to handle than she had originally thought.

"Your heart says otherwise... Why else do you think that you hold an Innocence inside of you?" Mei asked him, Lavi's mind jolted at her point. "I don't think you hate being a Bookman Lavi, you just found another purpose- you found a stronger purpose to fight because you found friends like Allen and Kanda-san." Images of him and the others floated through Lavi's head as he listened to what Mei had to say, the warmth of her words washing over the darkness that for so long he has kept to himself.

"You found a family worth coming back for... I think that's why you fight so hard too. Not just me, you hurt too for the sake of other people. You know that light Lavi...? That light that flickers in your heart? It's like love, it's infinite- so it's okay being both an exorcist and a Bookman. There will always enough brilliance in you to be both. The light found something more inside of you Lavi. Your Innocence found hope inside of you, that's why you're an exorcist too, you want to protect your friends, your family within the Order as much as Allen does." Mei concluded as she pulled him away to look at his tear stained eyes with a smile. She used the pad of her fingers and wiped away the tears that was falling down his face and lightly laughed, "This is the second time you've cried in front of me, aren't you embarrassed?" she teased and he wiped the remaining tears with the back of his hand and frowned at her with a flushing face.

"A second time? I clearly remember this is a first time thing." he corrected her. Mei only smiled and shrugged when Lavi pointed a finger at her, "You better not tell the others about this!" Mei reached up and cradled his face with her hands and touched her forehead with his headband lightly and smiled up at him warmly.

"I promise I won't tell anybody that I saw you crying." she whispered with him looking away with an embarrassed expression.

_I promise... so don't be sad anymore._


	9. Through His & Her Eyes

A/N: Read and Review! Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even Lavi... ):

Chapter 9: Through His & Her Eyes

After that night Lavi had the tendency to visit Mei in the infirmary as soon as he was out of studying with his grandfather whom liked to teach him lessons from time to time. Allen and the others would always see him dash out of the library as soon as he was done and run down the corridor like an excited child. He would always be carrying a book to show her or to read to her, pointing out things that he knew would fascinate her. Lavi loved it when she smiled, it was like turning on the sun in the room. Mei's condition was slowly getting better and soon she would be able to be discharged. Mei had taken notice that her body was taking longer and longer to recuperate from her 'meltdowns' and this thought had her worried, worried that the others was going to find out. She had to keep it away from them, she couldn't let them know the end consequence of her Innocence.

The sun was shining through the drapes of the infirmary, lighting the whole room a light yellow. It gave it a warm feeling to it instead of the cold and nasty, feeling you'd usually get from a hospital room. Mei was slipping her feet into the slippers on the floor when the door opened slightly and her favorite red head popped in with a bright smile on his lips. He saw her getting out of bed wrapped in a dark red shawl around her shoulders and he came over excited.

"You're being discharged?" he asked her happily and she nodded, she pulled the black uniform jacket over her red shawl and smiled lightly. Her hair was a bit mussed up and her legs ached a bit from the lack of intense fighting that she was normally use to.

"The others are having tea in the reading room, would you like to accompany me?" she asked him as she began to walk, her eyes darting over her shoulder to look at him and he ran up next to her to exit the door. They walked in momentary silence as Mei took in the sound and smell of the Order, it was all so busy and familiar after being here for almost three weeks. The sun came in and out in a intermittent manner as it got blocked out by the large pillars that they were passing making them seem like they were flickering in a movie. Her hand lightly touched his in a passing gesture as she hummed softly to herself, her long, dark, black hair swished airily behind her straight back. Now and then her eyes would shift over to the boy walking next to her and take in the soft edges of his smiling lips, his boyish angular face, and his over all tall physique. The way he walked with those lanky legs of his jingling with zippers and straps, the way his long arms moved left and right in the air. There was something serene about Lavi that she really liked, something soothing and relaxing about his persona. Mei slowly hooked her arm through his left one and leaned in as they continued walking, she let her head fall to his arm as he looked down with a shocked expression before taking a breath and gave her a gentle smile. They walked down the quiet hall arm in arm as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

------

He didn't know when it had happened, but it did, somehow he had slowly deviated from his chosen path and decided to do something he had never really tried before: and that was to get close to a person on a personal level. Create a bond that was deeper and thicker than blood, he wanted to try before it was too late for him. Being a Bookman meant strictly forbidding him from forming relationships with other exorcists, but he himself was a exorcist too wasn't he?

Lavi opened his eyes slowly against the streaming sunlight that was pasting itself to his face in a hot patch as he stretched his arms and squeezing his eyes shut in the process. He let out a breath when his hands landed on Mei's head that was currently sleeping on his lap with a pillow. He lightly stroked her dark hair and pushed the falling strands aside revealing a pink tinged cheek underneath it that was heated from the sun that was falling through the window. Her usual pale face was rosy and warm as he gently touched her face and she shifted a little making his hand retreat in reflex. They had made their way to the reading room earlier and entered into a room that was occupied with the others except Kanda was missing. Allen had said that he wanted to meditate instead of wasting a good afternoon drinking tea and doing absolutely nothing. Miranda had made tea and crumpets for everyone to enjoy for their hard work on finding a new conformer from their last mission. She had been worried all weekend hoping they would come home soon that she wasn't able to sleep; surprisingly they had made it back within two days time. Marie had to persuade on the last day that she had to get some sleep or else her body was going to fail her and he had a feeling that they would be back soon. Good thing Marie didn't lie or else Miranda would've had worse bags under her eyes than before. He supposed it was all that tea and crumpets that induced the food comas in everybody to take midday naps.

Lavi looked around and noticed that Miranda had disappeared, Krory and Maire was at the other end of the room fast asleep with Marie leaning against the bookshelf and Krory lying on the floor drooling all over the place. Allen and Lenalee was across from them on the other flowered antique couch. Lenalee's small head was on Allen's left shoulder as his head was on top hers lightly shielding her from the burning sun. His white hair shimmered in the light of the glowing orb of warmth that Lavi had to look away. It seemed alright now, everything seemed at peace. It was as if the whole the Order vs the Earl did not exist in this realm of peace that he was currently feeling. If only the world was a bit more like this and little less like the one they all knew then it would serve the world that much more good.

The birds outside chirped freely with their wings flapping noiselessly outside the window, Lavi's eyes drifted themselves towards the blue sky lazily and stared out briefly in a daze when his attention went back to the girl that had taken over his lap for an afternoon nap. He observed the gentle features of her face and the plumpness of her small pink lips, the way her hand curled themselves up as she slept. He watched her chest go up and down in the rhythm of her breathing and followed his gaze down towards the curves of her feminine body. He took in the silk softness of her long dark hair, one that Lenalee use to have, and wrapped himself in her faint vanilla smell that she always seem to be wearing. It made him want to hug her all over again, she was like a marshmallow to him- soft and huggable in his mind. He felt his own heart start to beat a little fast than normal under his chest as he looked at her from his position, the feeling of warmth washing over his face. He really liked being near her, she made him feel needed by him and she treated him with gentle words. She made the uneasiness go away when darkness reigned and the confusion when choices seemed ambiguous. Yet a small voice in his head jolted him from his rambling thoughts, a sharp voice that had always told him the strict rules of the Bookman clan.

_'Do you believe yourself to be God's apostle? You are the successor of the "Bookman" and nothing else. Haven't I taught you to be nothing more than an onlooker regardless of the situation? Don't be taken in by the war... We are only on the Order's side "by chance", all for the sake of recording history.'_

Lavi tilted his head backwards and sighed, his grandfather's sharp words hurt more than anything in the world because then it has encased him in a dilemma where he can't choose even though his heart is slowly reaching out. He did a facepalm and sighed, it was rather ridiculous that this had to happen to him. He hated having to make decisions, why couldn't there be no consequences choosing between being a Bookman and wanting to become an exorcist? His eyes shot towards the creak of the door when he noticed another dark haired woman walking in with a surprised look plastered on her face as she walked in.

"Oh, they're all asleep..." Miranda muttered helpless, her hand was at her mouth as she contemplated on what to do. Her eyes looked over to where Lavi was and smiled, "So you're still awake it seems!" she made her way to the other single seat sofa and sat down as she began to busily clean up the tea and pots that were on the table when she notice the sleeping girl on his lap and smiled.

"You two make such a gentle couple." she said softly standing up and taking the cups with her and leaving them at the larger table so she could get the tissues and cookie plates. Lavi wanted to snort in laughter, but only to go red in the face at her statement. Miranda noticed the stain on his cheeks and giggled, "You're so cute Lavi." Lavi looked away with a pouting face.

"Stop teasing me Miranda." he muttered, his hands went through his hair lightly and closed his eyes, "Miranda... What's it like to like someone?" he asked so suddenly that Miranda almost tripped over and drop the ceramics in her hand. She looked up at him and laughed nervously at him, he stared at her with that blank expression. He scratched his face a little and looked elsewhere, "Not that I'm asking because I care, but..." his eyes diverted to the window again, out towards the vastness of the skies. "But... It's something I want to know, I feel like I won't get a chance at it... At least this way someone can tell me about how it feels." Miranda looked at the junior bookman and sighed, they may just all be children in her eyes- but these children really do think like adults sometimes. They suffer more than any other children she'd ever know in her life time. If they weren't in the Order their lives would've been so normal, they would be hanging around and chatting about the good old days in grammar school and having nice little picnics under the sun. Life would've been so much nicer for them without the pressure of the world on their shoulders to bare. Miranda can only imagine what's it like to risk her life everyday to stop the Earl from creating more akumas. Miranda's hands slowed to a stop as her finger touched the rim of one of the cups and she smiled absentmindedly at the shiny ceramic cup before.

"I heard it was nice... You feel elated to be by this person and you only want them to be happy, to see them smile all the time because then it makes you happy. Sometimes you even get butterflies in your stomach that won't stop fluttering and you'd get nervous, it's like being a kid all over again. The shyness, the secret gestures..." she looked up at Lavi with the brightest face he'd seen her in since they had met on Anita's ship. Lavi pointed a finger at her, finally realizing something.

"Miranda... You like someone don't you?" he asked bluntly, Miranda shocked by his question stumbled forward and dropped the cups that were in her hands. The cups went crashing to the ground as the sound woke everyone with a start.

"Miranda!" Lenalee's voice penetrated through Mei's head like lightening as her eyes opened up, there was some sort of commotion in the room as she rubbed her eyes. She slowly got up with her messy hair and looked around. Marie, Allen, and Lenalee was helping Miranda recover a broken cup from the ground and Krory was looking over their shoulders worriedly.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." Lavi teased as she turned around looking sleepily at him, she slumped onto his shoulder. "Still tired after two weeks in the infirmary _and _that last hour's nap?" he asked her, tugging slightly at her hair making her head tilt lazily to one side. She didn't say anything except nod a bit when she draped herself over him like a panda and mumbled something into his ear. He looked up at her and made a face, she still had that half asleep face on when he scratched his head again and sighed. He stood up and scooped her up onto his back. Lenalee looked up from the ground and noticed Lavi carrying a sleeping Mei on his back.

"Are you taking her back to her room?" she asked and Lavi nodded, "Well be careful with her then." Lavi nodded before exiting the reading room with Mei sleeping soundly on his back. Krory and the others looked at each other bewildered for a moment as he exited the large doors, only Miranda chuckled as had a slight idea of what's going through Lavi's head.


	10. Another MeetingAnother Night

A/N: R&R!! Thank you!

Chapter 10: Another Meeting - Another Night

Lavi held the girl on his back as he walked the length of the hallways with other people's eyes staring at them and whispering with secretive smiles on their lips. He could only imagine what wild fire rumors he'll hear by dinner time. It wasn't hard to figure that people has started talking of the two being so close together they were the new young couple in the Order. Even if he had wanted to dispute it he felt at the moment it was better for them to believe what they want and let them live a little in this happy gossip. It was moments like these where the world is invaded by an invisible war that there has to be some sort happiness to keep people going. He couldn't bring himself to erase those smiles; it brought on a lighter air to the depressing death tolls that comes rolling in everyday. Mei shifted on his back when he heard her get up and yawn.

"Ne…?" she muttered rubbing her eyes and looking around drowsily as if still in a stupor. "Why are we moving?" she asked and Lavi laughed at the girl that earned him a whack on the head. "I feel like I had too much of something or what not…" she complained while rubbing her temples.

"You can't possibly be telling me that you're getting a headache from all that tea you had in the reading room?" Lavi asked her with an exasperated tone, she looked at him with irritated eyes before giving him a whack on the shoulder, "I was kidding Mei, relax." He said with laughs in between his words. Mei groaned and wrapped herself more tightly around his neck and snuggled within the crook of his neck and he shuddered again like that time at Lyon. He couldn't handle it when she did that, but it wasn't like he could tell her that would only mean that he liked it when she touched him and only her it seemed.

'No, not the naughty thoughts!' his head scolded at him and he shook his head of the piling junk that was consuming his mind.

"What are you thinking?" she asked him, her question caught him off guard at the preciseness of her thinking with his. His face turned slightly red when he thought back to the stuff he was thinking about. Good thing that she was on his back instead of looking at him and witnessing the embarrassing the redness in his cheeks.

"Nothing you need to concern your little highness with." He replied with a grin and she gave him a confused look before she saw the glint in his eyes that told her that she would rather not know what he was thinking about.

"Why am I always carrying you anyways?" he asked her with a sour look on his face, one that she has so use to seeing Kanda wear on his pale face with those long dark hair falling around his face making him look that much scarier. Her face turned blank as she tried to think about a reason as to why he did when her face just broke into a large smile and gave him a hug from behind.

"I'm pretty sure you love me enough to carry me Lavi, asides from you having a generous and kind soul." She finally answered with a small laugh. He rolled his emerald green eyes at her and scoffed.

"Don't flatter yourself _princess._" Emphasizing the last word with a grin as he started to run down the corridor in high speed with a laughing dark haired girl on his back soaking up the warm sun dropped lights of the afternoon.

"Will Lavi, Allen, Kanda, Miranda, Mei, and Lenalee report to Head Officer Komui's officer please? I repeat Lavi, Allen, Kanda, Miranda, Mei, and Lenalee to Head Officer Komui's office please." Riba's voice came blasting through the speakers as Lavi slowed down and both their heads turned up towards the intercom. He dropped her on the ground before sighing and scratching his head, it was most likely that Komui was sending them onto another mission. Mei's hands went to her lips in reflex as she thought about the results of the last one she was on wit Kanda. Will she be able to handle another death if something went wrong? She should be use to this kind of thing, death, was part of her life so why was she so afraid all of a sudden? Lavi looked down at the girl next to him who had a stony face on and his brows furrowed in concern. He was worried that she was going to push herself to the limit again and she'd have to suffer another one of those pain seizures. He touched her arm with the tip of his fingers and she looked up at him with a quizzical look. She tilted her head a little making her black hair fall over her shoulders in a wave.

"Promise me you won't push yourself too hard this time okay?" he asked her in a tone that almost sounded like he was pleading with her. Mei smiled and patted his hands in reassurance.

"What are you? My mother? Don't worry Lavi, it's just a one time thing… I promise." She lied; it was so easy to lie to people around her, especially with the skills she has that she taken years to polish over. All she had to do was smile and say it wasn't her or make her victims fall for her charm and BAM they believe like some kind of enchanted snake. Mei started to walk down the other way where Komui's office was and looked back motioning him to follow.

"Coming?" Lavi shook his head from the daze he was in and scooted on after her with a smile.

------

Mei pushed the door open and there stood Miranda and the others too as the other three stood on the other side of the room where Komui's clutter of books and files were currently pushed to. Mei had to push herself away from the mounds of paperwork that seemed to litter the room that was covered in dust and webs. Lavi followed soot and muttered something about getting someone to clean up his mess so it's easier to walk. Mei sat down on one of the Victorian English couches that was lain around the room as Lavi plopped himself onto the loveseat across from her. They looked around and couldn't see where their curly haired friend was. Kanda pointed out that he'd probably buried himself among his piles of papers again as they began to frantically dig through the thick piles in order to rescue their beloved Komui. There was a sudden yawn when a white topped, glasses adorned young man popped out from behind three piles of large towering paperwork skyscrapers and gave them a smile.

"Ah, good morning! What are you doing here, cleaning?" he asked stupidly as Kanda turned his head away dangerously irritated looking with a pulsing vein on his temple. Mei sighed with an 'I give up' look written on her face; Allen had his hand over his face in embarrassment. Lenalee could only shake her head in disappointment, what a head leader he was. Miranda laughed lightly at the whole thing and spoke up on his behalf.

"Komui, it's already midday and we're here because of the mission?" she said timidly with a small smile. Komui's smile brightened even more when that light bulb went off in his brain, he had his finger point in an upward position.

"The missions! Right!" he said again after Miranda reminded him, "The files… Where are the files at." He started leafing through his desk again when Lenalee pulled the manila folders from under another pile of paper and handed it to him with a frown. He smiled at her and mouthed a thank you to her as he opened it, scanning through the details.

"Are we all on duty?" Allen asked and Komui looked up with darker eyes and bit the inside of his mouth.

"At the moment, yes. I don't like the fact that I'm sending all of you out there like this… But the Innocence is acting up from the level of the akumas. It's naturally responding so it can fight it off and we need to get them before the Noahs do." He reported from the papers, he looked up gravely at them, "And the Earl." Literally every body froze in the room; it wasn't like it struck fear into everybody it was just with that name everything becomes so tense, especially for Allen. Lenalee looked over at Allen worriedly and walked over taking his hands in hers easing his sudden urge to hate.

"Is Gramps coming back any time soon?" Lavi asked him with questionable eyes and Komui flipped through the rest of the files without looking up.

"He's already back; by the way he's looking for you… He wants to talk to you about something." Komui added as Lavi's face brightened a bit. Mei's head turned in surprise when she heard about the bit on Lavi's grandfather. She never knew that he had a grandfather who was an exorcist in the Order. That meant there was another Bookman on the campus. Miranda caught Mei's stunned look and gave her shoulder a pat and she turned around.

"Do you want to meet him?" she asked and Mei stared at her for a moment before understanding what she was talking about. "He's the old man with the funny hair, you'll get to meet him soon since he's back, can't miss him." She told her with a small smile and Mei gave her a thanks. She hadn't noticed the door open when a small body carried itself past towers of books and papers. All she saw was the bobbing white hair that went up and down. A rush of thoughts came surfacing to her mind as to guess what it could possibly be when the hair came revealing a body of an old man with ancient dark ink around his eyes that strangely reminded her of a panda.

"Oy, welcome home panda!" Lavi called out with a childish grin, in a flash of a second something hit Lavi across the face sending him flying across the room and into the stash of books that were coincidently occupying the spot.

"Don't call me panda! You fool!" the man called out sharply, at once she could tell that this was the Bookman that she heard about in the last 5 minutes of their conversation. Lavi's grandfather. She could see the intensity of the old man's spirit flaring in his eyes and the smarts of years of experience in his small wrinkled hands. Even if he was old, he was not someone you wanted to mess with. Mei stood up and walked over to Lavi's side and helped him up. Bookman eyed her quizzically with a strange stare and she looked down at the small man with a genuine truthful smile. He folded his hands back into the long dark sleeves of his robe and turned to her.

"You must be the new exorcist that Komui told me about, from the North American branch. I humbly welcome you to the Black Order in London." He said with a slight bow and Mei returned the gesture. "I also wanted to thank you for taking such great care of my foolish grandson here. I'm pretty sure he was a handful to manage."

"It's a pleasure meeting you Mr. Bookman." She replied with a laugh when Lavi's face fell from the last comment his grandfather threw in. "No need to thank me, it was more like Lavi taking care of me… I hardly knew this place and he was one of the few that relentlessly kept coming after me to say hello." She said thinking back to the first she was there in the cafeteria, irritated and hungry.

"Stubborn as usual." Bookman said with a sigh and Lavi stuck out his tongue at him. Komui stood up and gave him a curt nod.

"Welcome back, I appreciate your hard work out there Bookman. Thank you." He said with a wavering smile. There was a hint of sadness in his voice that Mei noticed and a sudden drop of happy aura in the room.

"No need to thank me Komui, I do it for the Order," Bookman replied looking at Komui with straight eyes.

"Please guys, your missions." Bookman gave Lavi a stern look and muttered something Mei couldn't hear, but Lavi's face changed from happy to somber, after that he walked out of the room. "Mei and Lenalee you'll be going as one to Manchester, Miranda and Marie you'll be going Birmingham, Krory and Lavi- Yorkshire. Kanda and Allen, both of you will be going to Liverpool. Check out the Innocence, if it's not there, retreat. That's an order." Komui instructed and the 8 exorcists nodded. Allen's eyes twitched knowing that he had to go on another mission with Kanda when he had one right before the one with Pierre's.

"Why do I have to go with bean sprout again?!" Kanda shouted with his sword out at Allen and Allen had his arm ready to attack when Lenalee stepped in between the two with her hands outstretched.

"Stop being so immature you two!" she chided as Kanda seethed in his corner and Allen sulked with his arm across his chest. Mei rolled her eyes before stepping out of the room, there was only so much drama that she can handle in one day.

-----

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" he asked her in the dark and he felt her head nod, she wanted to sleep and for him to shut up for a moment and let her take in the sweetness of the night. They both had a mission tomorrow and she wanted to energy to stay awake and he was worried about something she couldn't really comprehend since she was half asleep. He had crept into her room again, wanting her company it seemed and she reluctantly let him in since she somehow couldn't resist him. She just liked his warmth and his presence of security; she wasn't going to fall for a guy like him. She promised herself she wouldn't.

"Lavi… Go back to your room if you're going to just worry." Mei growled, she pulled the blanket over her head and slowly drifted off to sleep again.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her ear with that cheeky tone and she was going to whack him to shut up when he pulled her closer to him. With her eyes closed, her brows furrowed together in irritation.

"What are you doing Lavi…? I'm tired and I need to sleep goddamn it." She muttered and she just heard him snigger.

"It's warmer like this, I promise I won't do anything." he said lightly and she sighed letting him do what he pleased. Only if he'd shut up and go to sleep already she was fine with whatever he was doing. She didn't want to think about the lie that she had told him earlier, he'd probably be mad at her if she told him that her incidents weren't one time deals. If it was better like this, if the world can stay this way with just him and her then she wouldn't say anything else. She felt his hand make his way around her waist and his chin on her shoulder as the two let sleep take them away into the land of the unknown.


	11. Secretive Feelings of the Heart

A/N: Ai... So much work and so little time! Remember to R&R! I was wondering if I should wait until a specific amount of reviews until I do the next chapter... ):

Chapter 11: Secretive Feelings of the Heart

He'd snuck out in the morning since they didn't want another lecturing from Link; Mei was too tired to send him out as she watched from her bed. Without meaning to he placed a gentle kiss on top of her head when she nodded off for a bit and waved goodbye. Lavi managed to get back into his own room when the others started to come out to shower and brush their teeth. He felt like his heart was going to explode as he sat on his bed and leaned against the wall of his poster covered room with a long sigh coming from his lips. He slid down onto his bed and placed a hand over his eyes and closed them to let himself think for a moment. He couldn't bring himself to admit that he was starting to have feelings for that girl. It'll only end up in ruins, even if he himself has never had a relationship it was the terms of being a Bookman that has him locked within the prism of loneliness. His whole life was surrounded by sadness written down in ink and he couldn't escape that fact. He didn't want to hurt a girl like that, she didn't deserve it. There was a slight knock on his door and it opened revealing a white headed 15 year old walking in with his black uniform on already.

"We're setting out in an hour and a half." Allen stated with a chipper voice when he noticed that the red head wasn't even in his day clothes yet. He looked troubled. "What's wrong?" he asked and Lavi just looked at him briefly before shaking his head at him with a smile.

"Nothing, I'll be down in a bit." He answered him still in the same position. Allen looked back once more before shutting the door behind him, leaving a much disheveled Lavi behind.

Miranda looked up at the table from her tea and switched her look back between Lavi and the others; there was something awfully wrong. It was a lot quieter than usual, well, Allen was just too busy stuffing down food through his mouth to say anything and Lenalee was preoccupied with her brother upstairs that she couldn't join them for breakfast. Kanda had always eaten alone, which left Krory, Marie and herself. Mei hadn't said anything as she was still sitting there nodding off, she's been sleeping a lot lately since she was discharged from the hospital. Lavi was staring hard at his breakfast plate and not looking up; if he stared any harder he'd probably look right through the plate.

"What's wrong Lavi?" Krory asked through hotcakes and a cup of hot milk, Lavi's eyes shot up suddenly and he chuckled nervously as if he was hiding a secret. Mei opened her eyes again as she got up and shuffled herself to the counter and push her dirty plates in for Jerry to take. She came back and pulled on Lavi's sleeve and giving him a 'we gotta go' look.

"Time to go…" She said with a yawn and trudged herself towards the stairs. Lavi just smiled and got up not eating any of his food and followed behind her.

"Wait up! You're walking too fast." He laughed as she looked at him with narrowed eyes; she really wasn't a morning person with her low blood pressure. The three looked up at the two and then at each other when Marie spoke up about an interesting sound.

"His heartbeat's is a bit fast…" he murmured with his eyes still following the two up the stairs. Krory scratched his head with slight confusion; he was so lost on what they were talking about. He pulled on Allen's collar telling him that it was time to leave or else they were going to miss their carriage ride.

----

"He seems okay now," Marie answered Miranda who was standing next to him with her curly black hair waving around her shoulders. In her hand was her baggage that she was going to take with her and snaking along her arm was a long zipper that followed the up her Time Record Innocence. Miranda sighed and looked up at Marie thankfully.

"That's good to know," she looked back at the two who was standing next to Krory and Lenalee with laughing faces on. "For a moment I was worried there…" she said with a small giggle.

"What are you talking about, it's like you're in your own little secret world Miranda…" Marie told her as their carriage came forth and he opened the door for her. She looked up at Marie and pointed to the other five that stood huddled at the other side awaiting for their ride to come.

"You don't see it?" she asked, Marie looked over at the kids and shook his head.

"No, see what?" he asked with a confused look, was it a girl thing that she's seeing and he's not or is Miranda going crazy? He didn't think it was the latter so it must a girl thing. She shook her head and went inside without another word.

"Ah, Mei! The carriage is here!" Lenalee called out with a wave and Mei nodded as she turned towards the remaining four.

"Take care," she said brimming with unnerving happiness as the guys waved them off when Mei turned around and came running back towards Lavi. He looked at her with a puzzled grin and cocked his head at her before poking her forehead with his index finger.

"What's wrong, forget something?" he asked and she just smiled at him before planting a small kiss on his cheek that sent Allen and Krory flying to the sky. A shade of red crept across his face as she waved one last time before running towards the closing carriage.

"Yeah, just forgot one thing..." she joked laughing a bit at their reactions, only Kanda stayed emotionless and bored. "Now let's get this done so we can come home sooner, don't try and get yourself killed okay?" she giggled climbing onto the carriage and slamming the door behind her. Allen slapped a hard hand on Lavi's shoulder and gave him a hard stare with a twitching grin.

"And you said I was messing with Rodo..." Allan said threatening with an evil smile that Lavi didn't like as he swept the boy off and backed off with a flushed face all the while denying it.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I didn't do anything to her if that's what you mean. I mean Rodo was literally _in love _with you Allen." Lavi pointed out with a sarcastic face and Allen frowned at him then jabbed him in the stomach.

"At least I wasn't thinking nasty thoughts about what I did to the poor girl." Allen countered swiftly. Lavi gritted his teeth at this 15 year old boy that stood before him before Krory pulled the two away from each other.

"Stop it, please!" he pleaded with that begging face of his, "Your ride's here Allen Walker, let's go Lavi or else we'll be late. Miranda and the others has already left." Krory said sadly as he pushed himself on first and holding the door open so Lavi can get on with the baggage they were taking with them. Lavi muttered heavily under his breath and got on as Allen laughed getting onto his with a grumpy looking Kanda behind.

"Mei, can I ask you something?" Lenalee questioned as she looked up from her current rifling of papers when Mei turned her head from the window and glanced at Lenalee with a small smile.

"Yes, course." she replied before turning her attention back to the passing scenes before them in the dark carriage. The ride so far was smooth to the train station where they will be meeting their Finder to escort them to the current place they were suppose to investigate.

"Do you... like Lavi?" she asked flipping through more pages from the files, Lenalee's dark eyes looked up for a moment to see a grinning Mei chuckle.

"I can't be certain that I don't." was all to her reply, "Now let me ask you a question." Lenalee was surprised that the girl who doesn't usually talk about these things has a question upon the subjects of boys. "Would you say that you like Allen Walker?" she asked quietly. Lenalee shifted her load on her lap, her fingers lightly brushed some hair away from her face and pondered about that question.

"Allen..." she murmured, running that name in her head. She had mutual feelings about him, yet at the same time there was something else that was stirring that she knew wasn't from the simple friendship she had with him. "I place him dearly in my heart, I love him because he's a friend... and I love all my friends to a point where I wouldn't live in a world saved without them. I can't bear to think my life without them... At this moment I don't think I like Allen the way you're asking me... But when this war's over, when we don't have to fight anymore... Ask me again." she said with a half smile on her lips, her cheeks a little bit pink from her thoughts as Mei stared at the younger girl before her with a new sense of respect. Mei sighed and made her wandering eyes out the window, the trees passed by in blurs of green and brown that decorated the roads like a enchanting forest. The skies stayed ever so blue with the sun shining down as if they were lounging around and getting drunk on tea.

"You seem to know what you're doing Lenalee and I envy that in you." Mei confessed with a laugh; her eyes still out that small window next to her face. Lenalee's eyes lingered on Mei for a bit and realized there was a hint of something sad in her. She looked down at her own hands and tried to think back to moments where she knew what she was doing and nothing came up.

"That's not true Mei... Half the time I don't really know what I'm doing, I just try my best and see what happens from there. Don't say that I know what I'm doing, cause I don't. The only reason why I keep going is because Lavi and them are always there encouraging me to stay strong." Mei revealed slightly embarrassed, her fingers laced themselves together into a knot when thoughts of Lavi, Kanda and Allen came popping into her mind. When times got hard they were always there when she needed them. The time when Rouvelier came and Kanda told her that she was strong enough and that time when they stood facing Tyki and Rodo; Lavi had held her hand all the way through the procession. There was a sudden hit of loneliness that took over Mei's body when she thought back on her own friends that she left behind.

"You have so many friends waiting for you..." Mei said airily with her eyes closed, the homesickness that suddenly hit her didn't go away. In fact it only grew with each second that she was in that carriage. The memories claimed her thoughts as her eyes went misty, she had in some stupor of happiness had suppressed the memories about her friends back home and placed herself into another girl's shoes. One where she smiled and laughed like nothing was wrong.

"Are you sad you left North America Mei?" Lenalee asked hesitantly, she wanted to kick herself for asking such a stupid question. Anyone could tell that Mei was upset, except she rarely showed that to anyone. "You know... it's okay to let other people know that you're a bit miserable with transferring. Everyone gets it." Lenalee suggested with a smile and Mei cocked her head at Lenalee.

"I'm not miserable..." she started trying to think of other words to put her feelings together, "I'm just homesick, England's so different from home... The food, the people. You know?" Lenalee nodded, understanding what she meant. Mei pushed back her long black hair behind her ear and paused. "Jerry's food is nice and the people are so kind hearted- it's just going to take some time to adjust myself to a new surrounding... Even if I had left everything behind, I'll still get to see them somewhere in the future. I'll be sad, I might even cry for a bit, but I'll keep going... I don't want to stop myself because of that little bump. There's just so much to see and so much to learn, I don't mind giving up a little to meet new people." Mei explained a bit, she sat straighter against the cushioned seat and stretched herself from the kinks in her back and exhaled with a broad grin. "Ah, well still I'm fighting for the Order aren't I? I should be ecstatic!" Lenalee couldn't help but notice that unseen sadness that has filled her friend's heart, because just like Allen, Mei hid her darkest troubles from other people's eyes fearing that they'll only burden those that they care about.


	12. Only the Beginning

A/N: Currently at a UC Apps party. (: So bare with me on the chapter delays. Read and review please. Also the disclaimer: I don't own anything... If I had a wish I wish I could own Lavi Bookman.

Chapter 12: Only the Beginning

She stared idly down from where she sat as the carriage was brought forth with a grin, the short haired girl was a bit intrigued by the new exorcist that had arrived at the Order. The Earl had sent her to investigate the new girl in hopes of finding some use to her, whether or not she was worth worrying about. It was useless for the exorcists to come to Manchester, the city was already theirs and infested with akumas. Even though the Innocence they were searching for hasn't been found, it was a losing battle that the exorcists was trying to fight. Her pale skin reflected against itself and made her glow when she spied the carriage door opening, she recognized the first girl that came out. She had met her the day she was to collect Miranda Lott's Innocence, Lenalee Lee. One of Allen's many partners, the girl let herself fume a bit in her head that Lenalee got to be so close to her Allen. Her golden orbs widen when the second exorcist stepped out and her lips formed into a grin. The girl had long dark hair with dark brown eyes that seemed a bit muddled, at once she knew that that girl was going to be easy prey. The umbrella under which she sat began to shiver a bit when the pumpkin on the tip began to speak.

"Earl-tama is calling, Rodo-sama! Rero!" Rero reminded the spiky haired girl, her eyes adjusted themselves at Rero and nodded with a smile. She looked back down at the two arriving exorcists and stuck her tongue out.

"Get ready exorcists, I'm coming for you." she giggled before opening the door in midair behind her. With a small grin she waved and disappeared behind two large doors shaped almost like a heart and the child of 'Dreams' was covered in darkness.

Mei blocked out the sun that was in her eyes when she stepped off the carriage after Lenalee. Her dark uniform swayed in the wind as she slowly descended on the steps before her. Her shoes made little clacking noises when she made her way down. There was a chilling feeling that she felt over her shoulders when she glanced back at the sky, only the sapphire color resulted back at her.

"Mei-chan?" Lenalee called out at her, Mei turned back and shivered a bit. It was like someone was watching her from afar, those eyes... Who do they belong to? "Are you coming Mei-chan?" she called again and Mei ran the rest of the way down with her suitcase in hand.

"Welcome ladies, may we take your suitcases?" the front desk asked, Lenalee and Mei nodded with smiles as men in fine suits came and took their cases from them and handled it to carry them to their rooms. "The upper level rooms are ready when the madams are ready." the clerk said with a bow.

"Let's go." Mei said cooly following the men with their luggage, Lenalee followed behind Mei. They ascended dark red carpeted stairs that was aligned with gold banisters that curled themselves around white marbled orbs giving off a very rich air about the hotel they were staying in. One of the men opened the door for them and left their bags on the floor, with that they left Mei and Lenalee to settle and unpack. Mei flipped her hair when she walked in and motioned to Lenalee.

"So what does the file say?" she asked taking off her Black Order top and throwing it onto one of the beds that was there. She was left with a white top from underneath as Lenalee began to pull out the files from her case.

"Sarah Whitshore. 19. She was to be shown as a new debutante for the city, but she suddenly went 'crazy' as her parents called it and went killing off one of the prime ministers when he came to her opening party. The same minister that was arrested a few days ago for killing a liaison bodyguard for another prime minister when they were gathered to sign a peace treaty. After that the two countries declared war." Lenalee read off the paper, Mei looked over her shoulder at her in confusion. She sat down on one of the love seats and thought the problem through. It didn't make sense to her what that had to do with Innocence.

"I don't get it Lenalee..." she said with a pout as she racked her brain a bit harder to understand the situation at hand. This Sarah Whitshore girl and the akumas? Lenalee sat on the edge of one of the beds with her fingers skimming the lines of the report before her.

"She carried a giant sword as others claimed, a giant sword that glowed with such intensity that it was almost unbearable to look at it." Lenalee read on, "Several others has been killed looking at the light. She's currently locked up in the attic room of her home." after she finished she looked up at Mei and sighed. "It must the work of the Earl... Wars create more akumas Mei, this town may be infested with akumas because of it. Since my brother already explained that the Innocences are reacting to the level of akumas it may just be that she's already conformed with hers and fighting off the akumas by herself. Hers must be an equipment type, almost similar to Kanda's." Lenalee explained when Mei finally got it. She got up and looked at Lenalee with determination in her eyes.

"Then we'll have to save her don't we?" she said enthusiastically with a fist into the air.

----

The two girls stared enthralled at the largeness of the house that stood before them. The whiteness of it made it look like a large castle from afar. The trees were neatly trimmed and the walkways were cleaned by gardeners that was working on rose bush that they saw earlier. The golden gate that they entered early on also dubbed the place a rich folk place, Mei never really like dealing with rich people since it made her feel self conscious about her own manners. They were just too sophisticated for her. Lenalee turned to Mei and she gave her an encouraging smile before taking the knocker which was shaped with gold curly cues and slammed it hard against the light brown doors. They heard the echo of the knock and it made the two stand even straighter than before, Mei left like she was going to break if she stood any straighter than she did. They heard a click of the lock being opened up when a blond head peered out. The door closed again and opened to reveal a well dressed women in her early thirties. Her hair was let down and pinned by the bangs, her soft blue eyes shimmered gracefully like water. She stood poised and perfect like a ballet dancer with her pink lips in a gentle smile that greeted them with warmth. The woman's eyes veered to their shoulders recognized the cross as the one from the Dark Organization. She opened the door wider with a bright smile.

"Please, come in. You must be from the Order." she greeted lithely as if she had done this greeting job a million times. Both Mei and Lenalee stepped through with their small steps making echoing sounds down the hall. Lenalee felt a sudden pull from upstairs as her eye made their way up the stairs and towards the ceiling above them. The lady bowed slightly before giving her name to them.

"I'm Mary Whitshore, Sarah's mother. You're here to save her right?" she said with a hopeful voice, both Mei and Lenalee looked at each other not knowing what to say to that question. They looked back at Mrs. Whitshore and smiled politely with an uncertain nod. She directed them to the living room which was furnished by beautifully crafted wooden tables and cupboards. The carefully picked sofas of the beige fabric to the large grandfather clock that stood in the corner near the fireplace. Lenalee and Mei sat down on the soft Victorian seats as Mrs. Whitshore did the same. Her long light blue skirt ruffled under her as her white blouse bounced as she sat, at first glance you couldn't see the fatigue but if you looked harder there was the tired lines on her face.

"Mrs. Whitshore... About Sarah..." Lenalee started when Mei put a hand on her arm to stop. Mei recognized pain when she saw it and right now the lady needed time to think and calm down.

"She was my precious baby, everything was going fine until that awful day..." she cried suddenly that Mei and Lenalee was taken back by her sudden outburst. "Sarah was a good child, she was almost happy until the day her older brother died of a terrible sickness." Lenalee leaned in and patted the woman's hand in comfort.

"This sickness... What was it?" Mei asked suddenly when Mrs. Whitshore took the handkerchief that Lenalee gave her and looked at Mei puzzled. She wiped her face with it and settled with uneven breathing.

"Poisoning... Why?" she asked quizzically, Lenalee's eyes opened in realization. "He died within the hour, I was devastated. That was years ago though, time has taught me to cope, but it seems like it has effected Sarah more than anyone else. She loved Damien like any other little sister would. Damien treated her like a princess, took her everywhere, played with her when they were young. It was almost perfect." she described remembering back to the days when both Sarah and Damien were just children playing in the backyard.

"Can we go see Sarah?" Lenalee asked gently and Mrs. Whitshore nodded as she stood, they followed her towards the front where they had entered and up the elegantly curved stairs. They came upon a white wooden door when Mrs. Whitshore pulled out a golden key from her pocket and stuck it into the golden lock and turned. It clicked open, Mei could feel her own Innocence reacting to the one behind the door. Mrs. Whitshore stuck her head into the room before the two.

"Sarah, you have friends." she said, they heard a small murmur of a voice as she looked at them with a smile, "You can go in." Mei and Lenalee stepped into the room and was shocked that the whole room was covered in white, from the bed sheets to the chairs. It was like walking into a Winter Wonderland of sorts. They couldn't see where Sarah was when they heard the door close behind them.

"Mrs.-" Lenalee was about to ask when a sudden blast of wind interrupted her, the girls turned around to come face to face with a large blade in front of their face. There stood a young girl in black Victorian outfit, a black necklace dangled from her neck, her eyes a smoky brown, her long dark lashes made her look fierce and intimidating. Her eyes were narrowed at the two standing in the total white room with her curly dark brown hair falling around her heart shaped face. Mei blinked with her breath held in her lungs, she didn't dare mess with the girl in front of her.

Sarah didn't bother to ask them if they were friends or foes when she started attacking relentlessly at them.

_'Innocence Invocate!'_

In a split second both Lenalee and Mei had their Innocences activated, Lenalee blocked the bottom half of the sword with her Black Boots and Mei blocked the tip with her flames from slicing her throat apart. Sarah bared her teeth at them and pushed harder forcing them to back against the wall behind them.

"Wait! Sarah, we don't work for the Earl!" Mei objected, "We're from the Black Order." Sarah seemed like she wasn't buying that crap, she only raised her sword higher.

"Are you two part of the damn akumas?" she asked venomously with those piercing eyes that the two shook their heads, "If you are, I'll just kill you right now." she spat out bitterly. Sarah was the complete opposite of her mother, almost like Kanda. "You're here to take me away then." she said lowly.

"Only if you want us to." Mei said trying to back away from her over large sword.

"Is your sword suppose to be like that Sarah?" Lenalee asked pointing to her dark purple sword that she was holding. It was emitting a strange light purple glow, within the sword was intricate signs and designs that they couldn't understand. "It's transparent..." she pointed out. Sarah seemed taken back by what Lenalee said as she lowered her blade and looked at them again.

"You can see it then?" she asked puzzled, both Mei and Lenalee paused before giving her a confused look.

"Yes, we can see it." Mei said a bit irritated, it wasn't exactly the perfect greeting to have a sword in your face. She dusted her uniform before settling herself for business, her eyes met Sarah's. "We need to talk to you Sarah Whitshore, about you and your Innocence."


	13. Toughing it Out

A/N: Don't own anything sadly...-- Haha. Well if only~ Remember to R&R guys!

Chapter 13: Toughing it Out

"This is going to be hard, she doesn't want to go Mei." Lenalee protested on Sarah's behalf when the two were back at the hotel. Mei fussed her hair and paced around the room. She turned back to look at Lenalee and sighed.

"We can't let her stay here and fight alone, this place as she informed us is infested already. She can't handle it alone!" she countered uselessly and this time it was Lenalee who sighed. Mei threw herself on the bed and mumbled nonsense into the soft golden blankets.

"I hate this!" she finally yelled into the ceiling as she flipped over facing the ceiling. The memory of that afternoon's event came surfacing back to her in her mind.

_'"Normal people are too blinded by the light it emits to actually see my sword." Sarah said putting her sword away, with a flick the large weapon disappeared leaving a relieved Mei and Lenalee against the wall. "You're exorcists then... What's that about Innocence you're talking about?" she asked, finally believing them._

_"How long have you known about the akumas?" Lenalee questioned sitting on the edge of the white bed. The sun came through the only window that was present in the room, Mei leaned against the drawers with opened ears._

_"Almost all my life, mostly after brother died. I knew he didn't die a normal death and because of the fact that I wield the sword people label me crazy. I took into vow after Damien died that no matter how the town thought I was I wasn't going to let the akumas take over this part of Manchester." Sarah was now sitting near the window and looking out at the town below her. "I began to doubt everyone after I saw one attack Damien... He was trying to protect me that awful day from a passerby. Just a normal human being when suddenly it turned into one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen in my life coming forth to take my life. After Damien was attacked a glow from upstairs came bursting through one of the rooms from upstairs. I didn't think twice and made a grab for it and in another second it became this sword that I now hold as my weapon against those monsters." Mei pointed at her hand in where her weapon had disappeared and smiled._

_"That's Innocence Sarah, the sword that you wield. The akumas' weakness." she informed. Sarah looked at her and pulled a confused face. "It's what you saw me and Lenalee here use against you earlier." she snapped her fingers and the flame sprouted on her finger tips and Lenalee activated her boots again._

_"We're exorcists working for the Order in ridding of the Earl's army- the akumas." they said in unison. As if she had read their minds, Sarah was shaking her head at them._

_"I'm not going with you. If I leave no one's left to protect Manchester." Sarah replied bluntly, with that she turned her back to them leaving the two speechless.'_

"We'll have try and convince her otherwise... Right now it is too dangerous to let her not come with us." Mei groaned rubbing her eyes in frustration.

"Don't tell me you're going to make her come with us, even if we have to drag her with us." she said a bit mocking what Kanda liked saying when someone didn't want to cooperate with them and Mei snorted at her statement.

"We'll have to think of something else to make her come with us." Mei said yawning, "I wonder how the others are doing..." she mumbled.

----

She watched them motionless on the ground with a frown, her long hair flowing in the wind as she stood on the peak of the broken down church. In her hand was a shimmering light that blinded her slightly as her fingers curled themselves around it forcing the light out. The Earl had summoned her after he'd found out that the exorcists had entered Yorkshire in hopes of finding a new Innocence. The little brats has done their jobs well as the charming Innocence showed up among the workers of Yorkshire. The seedling in her hand was burning her fingers, but she can handle. Innocence was a Noah's weakness and vice versa. She saw movement in the red head that was laying in the rubble, his hands on his anti-akuma weapon as he bled out slowly from his multiple wounds. He looked up at her with his bright green orbs with his teeth bared when Lulu smiled down at him with a smirk.

"Give that back you damn Noah!" he called out with a cough that spat out blood, he managed to pull himself from the gravel that was on top of him and crawl his way towards the vampire looking fellow. "K... Krory, get up dammit!" he shouted at the black and white haired guy next to him that has fallen unconscious during their heavy battle with Lulu Belle, the Noah of 'Lust'. Lulu jumped and landed before the fallen and picked his chin up with her thin fingers and placed a her lips near his ear.

"I don't think so exorcist." she mouthed lustfully before picking him up by the neck and jabbing him in the stomach. Lavi's eyes went wide when the pain surged through his body, it literally knocked the wind out of him as his body surrendered to the pain and fell limp at her touch.

"Lulu! The Earl calls!" Rodo's voice came ringing around them like a bell, Lulu looked up at the darkened sky with a withdrawn face and let Lavi go. His body slammed against the ground with a heavy thud. She turned around with her heels and walked off towards the door that has opened for her. Her job here was done, the exorcist were useless and she had the Innocence in her hand. Before she entered the double doors her fingers tightened around the seedling that was quivering in her grip until a shattering sound was heard through out the night. Lulu opened her hand and let the glittering dust fly out of her hand and into the night sky that was ablaze in the fire's light making it look like Hell itself was brought upon the Earth. With the clicking sounds of Lulu's heels receding the doors creaked itself shut behind her drowning the world in an eternal fiery bliss.

_'I'm sorry Komui...'_ was Lavi's last thoughts before letting darkness consume him whole.

---

Mei's eyes opened by themselves, her dark orbs scanned the area around her only to see layers of blankets above her and the pillow under her head. She turned around and saw Lenalee's back facing her when she let out a sigh. A strange feeling had woken her up, she wasn't sure what it was just yet, but something definitely didn't feel right. It was like something died and has effected the world somehow. She heard Lenalee turn over from her position when she realized that she was awake with tears in in her eyes. Mei shuffled out of bed and made her way across to her short haired friend, she gently pulled Lenalee into a soft hug as she rubbed her back to calm her down.

"Lenalee! What's wrong?" she asked lightly hoping not to push the girl into anymore hysterics. Lenalee didn't say anything at first, but just let the tears wash over her, something wasn't right- something awful had happened.

"It's nothing... I just had a nightmare..." she hiccuped as Mei pulled her away with a worried expression on her face. She couldn't tell her that she saw that nightmare again, that nightmare that had always haunted her dreams ever since she met Allen. Whenever something went bad somewhere she would always have that dream. Almost as if to tell her that Allen and the others were in trouble, some dire consequence where she might not see them again. It was that horrifying picture of Allen laying in that pool of black water and she's sitting there by herself on the top of those ruins crying. Then it would shift to that darkened world where everyone was laying dead around her, Allen, Kanda, Lavi, Miranda, Krory, Marie, this time even Mei was in it. Lenalee shook that image from her head, she didn't want to think about it, but if she had the dream that meant that they were hurt somewhere out there. Just when Lenalee was at the point of forgetting, Mei and her golem came zooming in above them.

"Tiki!" Mei called out surprised. It was the middle of the night, who could possibly be contacting them now? Tiki's frequency wavered a bit before anything came through, at first it was just a muffled sound until Mei's heart seized at the recognizable sound of Lavi's voice. All they heard was 'I'm sorry.' being said over and over again as Mei stood up shakily on her feet and took Tiki into her hands.

"Lavi? Are you there Lavi?" she replied, she had to be strong right now. She can't let herself go crying over such things. Renee had taught her better than that, at the time of war, the soldier was to be strong to pull through situations like these. "Are you hurt Lavi? Krory? Are you there Krory?" she asked again. There was nothing as the sounds died and Mei looked devastated from where Lenalee was sitting in her bed.

"Mei, I'm sure they're alright." she tried, but even she knew that they weren't.

"I'm calling Komui to pull them out." Mei stated firmly, "Tiki, get me through to Headquarters." Tiki batted it's wings and began it's search for the Headquarter lines when a mumbling voice came through.

"Yes?" it called out almost as if they had interrupted them in their sleep which Mei had to say was in impossible since there was _that_ much paperwork to be done.

"Riba? Get me to Komui asap please, I think Lavi and Krory's hurt. Someone needs to get them out of Yorkshire." Mei informed, there was a shuffling amount of paper as voices began to call up like some dawn of the dead. "Medical help would be nice too." she said, murmur of voices and Mei nodded with her brows knitted together. Then the line was off and Mei ruffled her hair a bit more before settling into bed and throwing the blankets over her body.

"Mei...? Was nii-san there to help?" she asked, Mei seemed a bit dejected when she crawled into bed. Mei turned around and faced Lenalee with a half smile on her face like she didn't know what she was doing at the moment.

"Haha, you're brother was busy, but Riba has already sent out an evac team out to get Lavi and Krory out so they should be okay. We'll have to focus on our mission now Lenalee, so please get enough sleep." Mei told her, those simple words floated out and Mei turned around to face the window. Lenalee knew that Mei herself was worried about Lavi since those two were so close and that her heart might as well be hammering away in her chest from the amount of worrying knowing that the person you most truly care about is in danger. Lenalee was worried herself, but the one truly being horrible to oneself was Mei herself. She slid herself back into bed awaiting the next day, but before she closed her eyes she uttered a few words.

"Mei... You're too hard on yourself." Lenalee said quietly in the dark room. Mei shifted the blankets tighter around herself so she wouldn't have to listen to Lenalee, because what she said might as well be true.


	14. Keep Your Promise

A/N: WOOT! Pictures are finally up! : .com! Go check it out! (: Remember to read and review cause I like it when people review~ Makes my day that much better. (Don't own DGM nor Lavi Bookman. Boo.)

Chapter 14: Keep Your Promise

_Unplanned and unwanted. Something like that I'd understand more than anyone else. Being alone and misunderstood, that too I understand. So for the sake of me, live._

Lavi opened his eyes to see a peering Riba over him with a large grin, Lavi frowned and pushed his face aside with a grunt. He pulled himself up and realized that he had bandages over his face and arms from the burns that he had suffered at the hands of Lulu. They were at the St. John church where Krory and him were looking for the Innocence when they met up with the female devil. _The Innocence_. He had lost it to that damn Noah, Lulu Belle. He fisted his hands together and shut his eyes tightly from that miserable thought.

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself Lavi, you did well. At least we didn't lose you." Riba said encouragingly with a smile and cigarette in his mouth. His hands were full of papers and files that were sticking out in different areas like a gigantic mess. "Johnny and the others were worried sick about you and Krory." he pointed a thumb over to the next bed where Krory was asleep in with scratch marks and the same burn scars as he did.

"We got there just in time before the whole building collapsed. You should thank Mei when she comes back. She called in the middle of the night and told us to send in evac teams to Yorkshire to get you. She said it was urgent and that you guys needed help now." a voice came through the doorway of the infirmary. Both Riba and Lavi looked up and saw the white suited Komui stand by the door with a smile on his lips as if greeting a long lost family member back. He walked in with a cup of coffee in hand and a file in the other and stepped over to where Riba was. "You did well Lavi so don't fret over the small stuff." he smiled down at him like an older brother, "Welcome home." Lavi looked away as if he was too old to be told these kinds of things, yet, he felt the warmth of those words resonate inside of him like hot chocolate on a cold winter's day.

"I'm back." he muttered quietly that earned Komui another round of smiles at the young exorcist.

---

"So we're back. Great. We have no plan and no ideas to go forward to. So we're whinging it." Mei concluded and Lenalee giggled as she used the knocker the second time during their visit to the Whitshore's place and likely the same Mary came to the door. this time she was wearing brown bottom and light yellow top with a bright smile as usual.

"Something about her smile really creeps me out..." Mei muttered and Lenalee gave her a small shove when the door opened wider to let them in. They both bowed and waved politely before the questions started.

"Has Sarah's condition changed?" Lenalee asked taking her top coat off that the handlers took from both Mei and herself. Mrs. Whitshore shook her head in thought as she looked up at the door that faced the north side of the house.

"No, still the same stubborn her. Are you here to check up on her before you leave for the last train?" she asked half heartedly and they both nodded before heading upstairs as if they had done this often. With key in hand Mei inserted it into the lock and opened the door. A smashing chair greeted them when Mei ducked just in time to save her own neck. She looked at an angry Sarah fuming at the two when Lenalee went over to try and calm the girl down, she walked away from Lenalee.

"What the hell is your problem lady? We're just trying to help you know!" Mei yelled as Sarah threw more things at her which Mei either burned or dodged.

"What the hell are you exorcists still doing here?! What part of 'I don't want to go' do you not understand?" she shouted back. Lenalee could only watch the scene in amazement, strangely it reminded her of the boys whenever they argued, only it would always turn into a brawl at the end.

"I can't trust anyone anymore! Everyone I've ever loved is gone! Damien... I... I... I even killed my own father because of those damn akumas! I had to face Damien alone...!" she screamed at Mei. Mei dropped her flaming arm and looked at the fallen Sarah on the ground. "I can't see reality from fantasy anymore!" she said crying through her hands. Lenalee had her arms wrapped around her shoulders that were shaking uncontrollably from the tears.

"This is the war that we're faced with everyday Sarah, are you strong enough to fend them off by yourself? Always fighting alone isn't always a good thing... That counts for trusting too, but sometimes there are some things where all you can do is trust. We're all you've got Sarah, so let's go together and fight for the sake of the people that deserve to live okay?" Mei kneeled down so she could see Sarah eye to eye with a light smile. She knew even Kanda knows what's it like to trust Allen with his back even though the two has that rivalry going on, he too, doesn't want to fight alone. Sarah looked at the two before her, somehow the darkness she had always carried about in her heart slowly vanished with their gentle words. She took Mei's hand and nodded once, maybe just this once she could finally trust someone other than herself.

"Run Sarah!" a voice called from downstairs, Sarah's eyes went big as she recognized it as her mother's voice screaming at her. Mei and Lenalee didn't take another second to wait before the door busted open and two level three akumas came filing in with their armors shining in the afternoon sun.

"Well, well, well. Seems like the Innocence has found it's conformer already... That just means more toys for me to play with!" a voice giggled. Lenalee's body froze that the sound of that voice, she knew who it'd belong to. It belonged to one of the Noahs, one of the Noahs that had almost killed Lavi earlier on in their battles. A door appeared from nowhere as smoke covered the room making all of them cough and sputter. The two large doors opened to reveal a small girl with short spiky hair as she stepped through with a small laugh.

"Rodo...!" Lenalee spat out and the small girl turned her head at Lenalee's direction and grinned maliciously, her hand gripping around a small umbrella that shivered slightly.

"So we meet again Lenalee... How's that red head Lavi doing?" she asked coyly and Lenalee gave her a dirty look. "No need to give me such dirty look Lenalee, I'm only here for that girl over there today." she said pointing to Sarah in the middle. Sarah was backed up against the wall with an angry look in her eyes, she threw out her hand and in an instant that blade was back that Mei and Lenalee had witnessed the other day.

"Like hell you're taking me, first them now you freaks? Get a life." she laughed insanely as she threw herself at Rodo.

"Sarah!" Lenalee called out after the rushing girl. Noahs were known to be strong, one almost killed Allen; or should she say did kill him only Allen was lucky that his Innocence refused to let him die at the hands of Tyki. They were insanely strong with lots of power behind them and they were up against one of the worse ones. Rodo Camelot, the first born of the Noahs that has the ability to control the Ark. She was also the Noah of Dreams, one here she could manipulate the thoughts and image of the mind. Lenalee witnessed her power in person when Lavi was captured within her power, it was the scariest thing watching him try to kill himself. "She'll kill her Mei!" Lenalee shouted into the air. Mei reacted to the warning and pulled out her whip in a moments notice.

_'Innocence Invocate!'_

"Whip of Shiva!" Mei latched the thing onto Sarah's ankle as Rodo glared at the approaching girl and fisted her in the face sending the dark haired girl into the wall, Mei pulled just in time so Sarah didn't end up crashing through the window of the room. Sarah pulled herself up with her blade and glared at Mei as she wiped the blood from her lips.

"What the hell was that for!" she growled at her and Mei gave her a serious stare.

"Only idiots rush into a battle without knowing their foes." she told her, Sarah just scoffed and brushed herself off slightly. Her blade over her shoulder, within the blanket of dust Sarah looked almost intimidating.

"Is that how the Black Organization does things? No wonder." she mocked slightly at hand and Mei threw her a low look at what she said. When Lenalee's voice came through the dust, catching the two's attention.

"There's no time to be bickering right now guys, we're up against a Noah. Be careful not to be caught up in her web of dreams, with it she can kill you with your own thoughts and fears." Lenalee said crouching against a broken table with her newly evolved Black Boots on.

"Come out, come out where ever you are!" Rodo crooned into the dust covered room, the house was already captured in a web of spells. Now no one could come or go within the house, plus downstairs was already destroyed so there was no escape from her. A sudden whip of fire lashed out at her just barely grazing her cheeks when Rodo's eyes went wide. Then another and another as she mildly just dodged them, she sent the akumas forward to find the source when a shattering noise was brought upon her small ears. "So you damn exorcists brought down my toys eh? Do not fret, I have more!" she laughed as more akumas appeared behind her on her command. "Now go and find those annoying pests!" she said loudly with her finger pointed, those damn exorcists can't hide in the haze of dust forever.

"Damn! Lenalee, how you holding up there?" Mei asked with her shoulder limp from head on collision with an akuma earlier. Lenalee peered over and gave her a thumbs up when their eyes went over to Sarah who was huddled at the far end of the room. They weren't going to give up the Innocence no matter what it took to protect it. Suddenly Rodo's small face appeared before Mei's and they stared at each other before Rodo grinned.

"There you are! So the red head likes this one eh? An idiot will always get with an idiot!" she giggled as she placed a hand over Mei's face as her eyes widened in fear.

_'Shit!'_

"MEI!" Lenalee shouted over the sounds of clanking akumas and shattering rooftops. Sarah could only watch in horror of the image before her as Rodo's hand slid into the exorcist's head. Mei's eyes rolled backwards until they were white and veins were pulsing through her temple as if any more pressure she would die. They were all going to die... It was hopeless! They were too strong! Sarah dropped the blade that was in her hand and it shimmered before it died out and returned to it's original form which was a small switch knife. She backed away from the scene and hit something that clanked, she looked up and her eyes went round before the monster before her grinned down at her with that malicious stare and attacked. Everything was going too fast for Lenalee to do anything when she watched the execution of Sarah by one of the level two akumas that had appeared in the third round. The fallen Innocence was by his feet if she didn't do anything soon then they were going to take it, but if she went to retrieve the Innocence Mei was going to die. Lenalee head was rifling with choices to make, she couldn't leave either one out there, she just couldn't when she heard Mei's suffocated voice.

"Lena... Lenalee... Go!" she cried out and Rodo's head turned to look at Lenalee and she gulped.

"Don't even try exorcist, if you do I'll kill this girl right here and right now." Rodo threatened with an evil smirk that sent shivers down her spine. Rodo felt a pull then a sudden burn as she turned to look at the girl she held hostage. Her body was burning brightly as her attached hand was being consumed by the fire. Lenalee took the bought time to rush over with the help of her Dark Boots, she slid beneath the surprised akuma and made a grab for the blade which was now covered in Sarah's blood.

_'I'm sorry Sarah... For hesitating, as a result I was too late.' _Lenalee thought bitterly as her hands covered the small Innocence that had just lost it's holder. She blasted herself against the wall and pushed herself towards the level two and flipped kicking through the level two in high speed. Rodo's eyes darkened as she watched one of the last remaining soldiers were taken down. Lenalee locked eyes with Rodo as the dust particles settled, Rodo was now covered in flames and her body was burning. Lenalee was taken back when she saw a grin form on the blackened corpse that was still standing when Mei's fire died out that had left her exhausted. The body turned to ashes and fell to the ground as Mei fell forward with unfocused eyes.

"This is what I hate about you exorcists, you never give up a losing battle." Rodo's voice came surfacing back. Her body grew from the shadows behind Mei as her small slim arms wrapped themselves around the deadened body. "We'll make good use of this one Lenalee, tell that to your supervisor. We're going to kill you all." she smirked as she began disappearing with Mei's body. Lenalee saw the tears flooding out of Mei's frosty eyes as she was being taken away.

_'I can't move my body, everything hurts... Lenalee, tell Lavi I'm sorry... That I couldn't keep my promise...'_

"No! You're coming home with me, Mei!" Lenalee cried out as she shot forth with her Dark Boots, but she was too late as Rodo giggled one last time before melting to the ground with Mei in her arms. Lenalee hit the broken table where the two had disappeared into the floor. She laid there in the midst of the rubbles unmoving and unbelieving that Mei had been taken by the Noahs.


	15. Unbelieving

A/N: R&R! Thank you! :)

Chapter 15: Unbelieving

_'...Lenalee, tell Lavi I'm sorry... that I couldn't keep my promise...'_

How could she even begin to explain this to Lavi, she couldn't bring herself to tell her own brother that one of their own has been taken. She felt like a chunk of her world has just died off and has left a hole in her heart. Her glassy eyes stared fixated on her tightly wrapped fingers, the blade that Sarah had held in her hand a moment ago before she died glittered slightly in the sun. It was strange how the sun can keep on shining when she felt like the world was crying in pain. If she could, she would've laughed at the irony. Her ears heard nothing but silence as the shattered house continued to stand after the long fought battle. Why was she even alive after being attacked by a Noah a second time? She's had enough of this shit. All this fighting and losing her friends to the Earl, it wasn't fair. Her Dark Boots receded back to their crystal form around her ankles as her tattered black uniform laid broken over her body. She couldn't feel anything as the sunshine splashed themselves on her like a blanket of warmth. Instead it felt oddly cold like she had entered a room of emptiness. Her golem zoomed over her and zapped a bit before voices came to her silent ears.

"Lenalee!" a male voice projected itself into the room, she recognized it as Allen's voice. Something about his voice made her want to reach up, reaching towards his warm voice. _'Allen... I was too late for everything.' _"Lenalee... Are you there, please answer me." the voice called out, the tears leaked out of her hazed dark eyes as she looked up at the golem.

"Allen..." she croaked out, her other hand trying to lift themselves to reach out to her golem, the black communicator flew down into her hands. She touched it lightly and held it against her burning chest. "Allen..." she said again silently, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry I couldn't protect everyone."

"Lenalee?! We're coming to get you now okay?" his voice cracked over the line before it disappeared and Lenalee shut her eyes to the world that has been so cruel to her. That same image from last time floated to her mind...

_'For example, when I wake up after a night's sleep, sometimes I would think that everything that's happened had all been a dream. That things like the Millennium Earl, akuma and exorcists didn't exist in this world. Everything had simply been a nightmare. I would say with relief, "Ah, thank goodness it was just a dream." I would hear my brother calling me. And there'd be a horrible smell that's probably breakfast coming from the kitchen. __**If everything was all a dream... **__It's like the joke at the end of those dreary novel you might have read. The readers would definitely be disgruntled. How many thousands times have I imagined this ridiculous scenario?'_

"Lenalee...? Can you hear me?" his soft gentle voice came washing over her aching body, the image of her brother vanished and was replaced with darkness and she sighed. Something soft was covering her body so it wasn't so cold from before, it's probably a blanket of some sort and the muffled voices. It was hard for her to decipher who's belonged to whom because there were so many, but they were definitely familiar and that brought about a sense of comfort to Lenalee. She felt someone's hands on hers, it was so warm... she felt the tears well up again. The coldness just wouldn't go away, but these hands that was over hers were so warm and soothing she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by them.

"Ack! You made her cry in her sleep Allen! If Komui found out, your ass is gone!" someone cried out and she smiled, it was so like them to argue.

"What! I didn't mean to! I just touched her hands! I swear I didn't do anything to hurt her!" his voice came back echoing in her head. It was nice being surrounded by people...

"You buffoons are so loud, I'm going back to my room." a gruff voice came and went as more voices rose up in protest of the angry one she just heard. Lenalee opened her eyes a little and peeked over the thick blankets that was covering her and spied an angry head nurse pulling on Kanda's ear back to bed. Her eyes diverted to a laughing red head and Lenalee's heart seized up when those words came back.

_'...Lenalee, tell Lavi I'm sorry... that I couldn't keep my promise...'_

Lenalee clutched her head from the awful memory, she couldn't save either of them when they were all so close to her. If only she hadn't been so hesitant in battle, if only she had been a bit braver. She noticed her hand still clutching something between her fingers when she opened to reveal the small switch blade that had been Sarah's Innocence, the one thing that had lead to that awful fight. Everything suddenly felt wrong, they weren't suppose to laugh like this when a piece of the team is missing! No! She refused to believe that they had left Mei behind!

"Lenalee... You're finally awake." she heard her brother's gentle voice when she looked up with tears welling in her eyes. Everyone looked back to the bed in the back and smiled at her like nothing was wrong.

"Nii-san...!" she spluttered out as her arms reached for him like a little girl and Komui took her in his arms as she started to bawl on his shoulder. He patted her gently like he use to when she was young.

"Welcome home Lenalee." he told her as she let the tears fall from her eyes and down her cheeks soaking her brother's white uniform. But she didn't care, at long last she was home for the time being and way from the front lines.

X

He sat there quietly with the paperwork surrounding him like mountains as Lenalee made a face around her. It's so like her brother to bring the work to the infirmary. If the head nurse finds these junk here she's going to have her brother for dinner for sure. She shook her head at the uselessness of her brother sometimes, she looked around the darkened room and furrowed her brows a bit. It was quiet since the others has gone down to dinner, she wasn't hungry so her brother brought up tea and apples for her.

"Really nii-san... Do we really need the paperwork in here? " she asked with a frown. Komui was shocked at her sister's bluntness that he literally felt a stab to his heart.

"Of course! I made all the made that much effort to carry it up here for you!" he replied with a puppy dog look that Lenalee wasn't buying. He'd probably had Riba, Johnny and the others to carry it up for him. Typical him. She had to laugh, but settled after she finalized in thinking what she wanted to say to her brother.

"Nii-san... About Mei." She started when Komui put his hand up to stop her and gave her one of those sad smiles that usually came after a large funeral.

"I know Lenalee... I've been contacted of the info. For now rest." he told her, he was sitting next to her bed peeling an apple for her. He had told her that he wanted to talk to her about something and Lenalee herself needed to talk to her brother. No matter how much it was going to hurt by brining those memories back she had to explain. Her grip on the blankets tightened when Komui noticed the change in his little sister.

"I have to tell him nii-san." she said softly and Komui nodded as he sliced the apples and placed them on the plates on the table. "I feel horrible... I can't believe I allowed such thing to happen to her and Sarah." she muttered darkly. Komui set the knife down gently and listened to his sister with open ears.

"No one's at fault here, Mei chose her own path, if that was what she wanted to do... No one could've stopped her. I'm sure she's still alive Lenalee." he said with a firm voice and she looked up with her dark hair falling around her cute face.

"How can you be so sure?" she asked him, she didn't understand how her brother can be so positive that Mei hadn't died at the hands of Rodo. Who knows what dark torture techniques they were using against her. Komui smiled as he handed her a slice of apple, she mindlessly took it and looked at it almost in a trance at the small warm gesture of her brother.

"How can you not? I can see that unwavering spirit in her that won't die out easily... So don't give up on her so easily." he simply said, Lenalee looked up and saw that warm light coming from her brother again. It was times like these that she was really glad that he was there by her side to comfort her uncertainties. She took a bite of the apple and let the sweet juice overtake the dull flavor of her tongue. It was... nectarous.

"Before she disappeared with Rodo, she told me to tell Lavi that she was sorry... That she couldn't keep her promise..." Lenalee restated from her memory, it was almost impossible to forget. A crash of ceramic and silver caught both Lenalee and Komui's attention when they looked up to see a startled Lavi at the doorway. The floor was littered with food and utensils as a cup rolled by his feet; the tall Bookman seemed oddly pale under the shadows.

"Lavi!" Lenalee uttered with a hand over her mouth in shock, Komui was still seated in his chair with a stoney look on his face.

"What the hell... What the hell was that?!" he asked with a freaked out look on his face. There was no other way to explain it to Lavi, is was going to be a long night ahead.


	16. To Hear the Truth

A/N: I realized I completely forgot that Link was suppose to be watching over Allen... Hahahaha. Oh well- I'll see what I can do about that. Read and review guys!! Please!! Onegai!

Chapter 16: To Hear the Truth

_'"Now let's get this done so we can come home sooner, don't try and get yourself killed okay?"' she smiled as him with that sweet gentle smile of hers._

The last images of her walking away from him stung more than it should. She promised they'd come back home soon with bright smiles even if they had failed at their mission. He even made a small thank you gift for her when she came back for sending in that evac team for them. A million thoughts seem to flood his mind as he stood there listening to Lenalee's words. Drowning almost in those last few sentences.

"What...? What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Lavi asked shocked and shaking. "You said she was okay!" he said with gritted teeth. Lenalee slipped out of bed and was heading over with both her arms stretched out as if to catch him just in case he was going to fall over.

"She _is _going to okay." Komui replied softly to his angry words, his long slim fingers shifted his glasses on his nose. Lavi clenched his fist in anger, no she wasn't!

"How can she be okay when she's been kidnapped by one of those Noahs?" he yelled at them, Lenalee has seen Lavi mad before, but not like this. It was like someone had taken his world and ripped it to pieces, it wasn't pure anger that was inside his usually bright emerald eyes. It was pain and sadness that poured out into his green orbs that Lenalee felt so bad for. They heard footsteps resounding against the long hallways, people were ascending the stairs as the three stood in the darkness of the infirmary being lit only by a small lantern light.

"What the hell is going on? We heard a crash then someone yelling, is everyone alright?" Allen asked appearing in the corridor with a bowl in hand and a chicken thigh in the other. Miranda was standing over next to him with a worried look on her face and bandages all over her arms. By the looks of things, something was terribly wrong. Lavi's face was thrown into the shadows of the light that was coming from inside the infirmary and he looked angry at something.

"We have to get her back then! What the hell are we still sitting here for?" he asked bitterly taking a step back and Allen cocked his white haired head at the 18 year old, wondering what the heck he was talking about. Lenalee stepped from the doors of the room that Lavi was yelling at with her small arms reached out towards Lavi as if trying to calm him down. She noticed the others in the vicinity of the argument and looked to the ground in haste.

"Lavi, Lenalee? What's wrong?" Miranda asked hesitantly; walking over by Lavi and taking his arm in her gentle hands. He looked more pissed up close than before. Komui stepped out of the room with his glasses reflecting the moonlight from the windows and looked at them all with a grim face.

"I suppose it's time for an emergency meeting then." he sighed shaking his dark curly haired head.

X

"WHAT?!" they all said in unison with large eyes, some darker than others. Kanda sat rigidly at the end of one of the sofas looking out the large window on his side, quiet. The rest of the group has been gathered into Komui's office for a debriefing of what had happened to Mei during her mission to Manchester. Sarah's Innocence has been taken and stored away behind vaults, it was to be examined later on to see the full potential of it. Lenalee had reluctantly let them take it from her as she watched the small switch blade disappear into someone else's hands. She suddenly felt disconnected to Mei, that was the only object she had left before she watched Rodo take her away. She felt those warm hands take hers again when she looked up and saw Allen smiling down at her with those reassuring eyes of his.

"She'll be alright." he told her and she nodded. The older Bookman was currently standing at the edge of the chairs and watching the others digest the information. He knew before hand that something had happened to that new exorcist but felt it wasn't necessary to tell the young ones just yet. It was almost the same incident where Lenalee was taken by Rodo earlier in one of their missions looking for Miranda, only she suffered minor nerve damage.

_'She'll be alright... She'll be alright!_' Lenalee told herself over and over again in her head, then how come she's having a hard time believing it?

"Come on, come on! Let's go already!" Lavi urged as he stood pacing around the room like a unsettled child. Komui was sitting tightly in his chair and watching the worried expressions of everyone in the room. Lavi was frustrated, at the moment he wanted to hurt that son of a bitch Earl for having those Noahs. He could barely sit there and listen to all the gory details of Lenalee and Mei's mission. It was just too horrible that he had to leave the room when it got to be too much.

"Only idiots rush into a battle, we need to know our foes first before heading in." Komui said shifting his glasses again and giving him a stern look. Lavi turned to glare back at him with his sharp green eyes.

"I guess I'm an idiot then!" he fought back, Bookman laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a strong stare. The look that he was so familiar with, the one that he was given to when he had tried to help Lenalee cope after Allen's supposed death. A hand fisted him across the face that earned Lavi a surprised look, he looked back at his grandfather who was giving him a dark look.

"Get a hold of yourself Lavi. Did I not remind you of what your job here was? Do not get yourself so tightly wound up about the consequences of another exorcist." he told him sternly in a low voice. Lenalee had stood up and Komui had looked away, the room was strangely quiet all of a sudden.

"Bookman..." Miranda uttered feebly with a hand reached out, this wasn't a time for them to be arguing amongst themselves. Lenalee tightened her grip on her lap, she couldn't take it anymore, all this fighting and the arguing. It was all so stupid!

"It's strange you know? That's what Mei said before she went and bought me time to get the Innocence. She said the exact same thing as onii-san... Even though it seemed like we were losing, she never gave up on me, so please guys... No more fighting! Mei's waiting for us." she said looking up with determined eyes. The others looked up at her in surprise, her outburst caught their attention as a team and not as individuals. "She saved me, so please... Help me return the favor." Allen smiled, this was the Lenalee that he knew and met the first day he came to the Black Order.

"Alright Lenalee."

----

"Oy... Rodo, did you bring another toy back again? You know the Earl's going to get mad one of these days for you to be bringing exorcists back to the liar." his dark voice sounded through the room as he looked at the dark haired girl before him. She was almost cute as the last one, her hair has been curled around her small delicate face and she was wearing a dark blood red dress that went up to her knees. Rodo had a knack for dressing up her 'toys' that she brings home and plays with them. Rodo came bounding in through the arc of the door with clips and brushes in her hands.

"Ne, it's none of your business what I do with my toys... It's not she can move or say anything. So what's the problem Tyki?" she pouted and he sighed. He tipped his tall hat at her and smiled with a slight bow.

"As long as your pleased Rodo, but... Is she new?" he turned around again and examined her like a fly, Rodo narrowed her eyes at her uncle's obliviousness to the Black Order's movements. "I've never seen her before... I know there's eye patch, long hair, the cute girl, and Allen... But who's this?" he asked with a pointed finger and a grin. Rodo smacked her forehead at his idiocy and nodded. Tyki kneeled and looked at the girl's glassy dark eyes and smirked.

"Ah, I wonder what the Black Order will do this time around." he murmured with a gloved finger on his chin. Rodo jumped onto Tyki and wrapped her small arms around Tyki's neck with a smile on her lips.

"You know what's better about this one than the last?" she asked him, he looked over his shoulder at her and shook his head making his dark curly hair ruffle under his hat. Rodo giggled as she leaned in and poked the girl's rosy but cold cheek.

"The eye patch boy likes this one... So there's more meaning in taking this one than the last. Plus... Her heart's weak with all that loneliness. There's use for her." she answered him and Tyki's eyes went wide for a moment. He fought the red head before, that fool like Allen, fought with his emotions- it was the reason this girl here was going to die at the hands of the Rodo. "It's almost time Tyki... They're going to come for her... And I'm going to KILL her in front of them after I play with her a little... I will avenge my brothers Tyki." her eyes glinted dangerously in the dark.

---

"Your objective will be to search the vicinity of Manchester for anything that might lead us to Mei's whereabouts." Komui ordered through their earpieces and all 7 of the exorcists nodded their heads as they stood on top of the moving train.

"Roger that onii-san." Lenalee answered through her mouth piece. Komui settled his cup back down and sighed as the line clicked off. He turned around in his seat and faced the wall of books, his glasses reflected the sun's light as he did so. Sometimes he has to wonder why God was so cruel, as to send mere children to the battle to fight a war that was so hard to bare.

"Oh, going to Manchester again." Lenalee breathed out as she slipped into the warm interiors of the train with the others. Allen looked at her with a small worried glance, he opened the door as he and Lavi stepped in. She looked back at them and smiled, "Ah, I'm going to get some fresh air." she said and ran off to the other side of the train. Allen was going to follow when a hand stopped him, he turned around and saw Bookman.

"Let the girl go, she needs time to think." he advised, Allen looked back at the running girl that was disappearing from his view when he finally nodded and followed Bookman into the lavish first class room.

Lenalee exited through one of the backdoors and heaved a sigh of relief, she had to get out of the stuffy room that was suffocating her. The wind rushed by her face and whipped around her short hair as she watched the passing scenes go by. It was like watching an etched drawing being fast forwarded over and over again.

"Lenalee, you're worrying everyone with that attitude of yours." a voice spoke out from the roof. Lenalee didn't have to look up to see who it belonged to. She leaned against the rail and looked down at the railway that the train was running on and chuckled.

"Sorry, Kanda." she mumbled half heartedly with a smile, "What are you doing out here by yourself? Don't you want to go over the plans with the others?" she asked, she pushed her hair out of her face and looked up at the usual lone wolf. His dark hair was so black it almost looked blue under the sun light. His eyes twitched a little and Lenalee laughed a little, so Allen and the rest bothered him that much. His dislike for idiots were truly amazing, but that's how Lenalee liked Kanda.

"I don't want to lose concentration with those idiots in there, it seems the battle ahead is going to be a hard one." he replied slowly. His hands landed lightly on his chin with his face looking out towards the image before them when the train suddenly lurched forward sending both Lenalee and Kanda falling backwards then front. Lenalee landed on her bottom and Kanda struck his sword into the roof to hold himself down before slipping off.

"Dammit." he muttered annoyingly as he climbed on back to the roof. He looked down at Lenalee was who staring up at him.

"You okay?" she asked loudly and he nodded in response. He jumped and landed on the small back deck and went inside with Lenalee following behind. "Are the others okay?" Lenalee asked as she rushed over the corridors of seats that sat startled passengers when they reached the compartment where all the others were. They suddenly fell out as a tumble, they looked up sheepishly at the two. Kanda looked like he was about to kick the living hell out of all of them when Bookman stepped on top of them and faced the front where the engine room was.

"They're here early, probably trying to stop us from going any further." Bookman observed quietly, his hands still in those long black sleeves of his. A high laughter came ringing through from above; Allen recognized it immediately. It was hard for him to forget the laugh of the girl that stole his first kiss and all. He shook his head of the strange thought that just popped into his head. Why the hell did that slip into his mind all of a sudden?

_'Innocence Invocate!' _

They slammed through the top and saw the Noah of Dreams dancing on top of the stopped train. She stopped and smiled at them with that cute smile of hers as Allen's eyes activated in case any akumas were nearby. Lavi's grip on his hammer tightened when he saw the girl in front of him, the damn devil who took Mei away from him. Miranda stayed in the compartment down below with Krory guarding her if she was needed, if they did that meant she would need to rest up her energy. Rodo laughed still, twirling around in her black and red gothic lolita dress before she stopped midway and jumped into the air.

"You won't be playing with me today exorcists! I have a new toy I want to test out~" she said in a sing song voice that gave Lavi the chills. The train began to rumble as a pair of doors began to show itself from the metal roof, the same door that most of them recognized that Rodo used to transport herself anywhere. They held their breaths for something awful like a level 4 to come out when a pair of human legs stepped out first. Lavi's eyes went wide first then the gasp of disbelief from everyone else a second later.

"You're going to be playing against one of your own!" Rodo cackled malevolently into the air before disappearing with the wind. "What are you going to do now exorcists? Kill her? If you don't now... I will!" her voice echoed into the air, leaving a very distasteful feeling in everyone's body. Lavi bit his lip as he stared at the girl before him, he can't fight her like this-especially when she doesn't even know what's going on.

"Mei..." he said helplessly. She didn't lift her head at her name, but continued to look unfocused with a fiery whip in her hand as if meaning to kill.


	17. Burning Everything Up

A/N: Ara... Didn't really like this chapter much... T.T Well anyways R&R! Please review more or else I'm forced to stop writing due to lack of inspiration and encouragement... ;)

Chapter 17: Burning Everything Up

_'"Mama wa.. Papa wa... Doko.. Ne, Renee-san, where's Mama and papa going?" the little girl asked watching the parade of men in black take two coffins away. Renee's hands squeezed hers tightly and didn't look down the whole time the question was asked. She just stared straight in front of her. The little girl felt the older lady's hand shake as she looked up with her dark eyes, then she felt a drop of water land on her face._

_"Rain... Renee-san, it's raining." she said tugging on her sleeve._

_"Hai, Mei... It's raining isn't it?" she said softly pulling the little girl into a tight hug. Mei looked at her wet finger tip, somewhere inside she knew that papa and mama weren't coming back anymore. Mei wrapped her little arms around Renee's neck and patted her as if she was an adult._

_"I'm alright Renee-san..." Mei answered her softly. In this world, I'm alone, mama and papa were always out on missions leaving me behind. I've always cheered them on from the quarters, I just never knew the harshness of the world. Why would God leave a child like me alone in this world... For I moment I hated Him, I wanted mama and papa back- I don't want to be alone anymore...!'_

_"Mei-chan!" _a voice called to her, a warm and familiar voice. Mei looked up to see where it was from, but she couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. _"Mei-chan! Listen to me!" _Mei shook her head slowly and returned to her frozen state, _'No... No more! NO!'_

"Che...! They're everywhere!" Lavi spit out as he flung his hammer at a massive mound of akumas that came his way. "Come and get then! Hi-ban!" he swung his fire branded mallet at the akumas that burned in an instant. The train was filled with akumas disguised as humans that they had brushed off.

"This is annoying... All for that girl." Kanda sighed as he slashed a level two away, "I'm getting tired of this. Hell's Insect: First illusion... Ichigen!" Mei watched in her suspended stupor as the akumas fought and she smiled. It was an unnerving smile that she gave off, her eyes had no life whatsoever in it.

"Clown Belt!" Allen called out, stretching his arms out to reach for a falling Bookman who nodded him a thanks then sent out his Northern Punishment Needles. "This is getting too much. How you doing Lenalee?" he called into the air. She landed next to him with a soft thud and nodded as her eyes landed on Mei.

"Mei!" Lavi called out as he reached out for her, her head looked up with her dead eyes. She flicked her wrist and sent her whip lashing out at him. It made itself around his neck as she pulled and grabbed his neck. "M...Mei... Li...Listen to... Me!" he croaked out as her eyes met his. For an instant he saw a flicker of sadness in her eyes.

"Why won't you damn exorcists die?" she asked tiredly as if she was bored with this game of cat and mouse. She flailed her arm and sent Lavi into the air as her other arm sent out fire spikes at the others. Then she used both her arms and created a large ball of fire aimed straight for Allen and the others. It was a double attack.

"Duck!" Allen cried out as he pulled the cloak over them, there was a sudden chill then a layer of mist when Mei looked upwards to see a wave of water come down. It collided with her other attacks and neutralized it sending out a large puff of smoke.

"Heh! You might be fire Mei, but I'm the master of ALL elements, love." Lavi grinned as he landed on the train's top. Allen pulled his cape off to see it wet and soaked from Lavi's attack, "The water seal." he said with a thumbs up.

"Lavi, at this rate, neither side will win." Bookman said gravely, Lavi's eyes narrowed at that thought when he looked down at Mei. She looked so out of control and forced, yet he was so helpless against her. Lavi jumped off and faced Mei head on with a tight grip on his mallet. His green eyes narrowed and he bit down on his tongue to ease the pain, he had to do this, he had to save her. If he didn't she was going to die working for the Noahs. The Noahs were cruel people making them fight against one another like this.

"Come on Lavi, we have to get her back." Allen's voice came by his side, Lavi looked over at the white haired boy and smiled with relief.

"Ne, of course we can't let a friend down. I made you guys come here in the first place, I can't give up just yet." Lenalee's voice came from behind. Kanda's just scoffed and walked up with Lenalee.

"I'm just here to get the order done." he grunted as if he didn't care. Lavi looked at all of them and smiled gratefully. It was times like these that he needed them the most, and he was glad to have them as partners.

"Thank you everyone." he said, he looked forward once again with determination. Only Bookman stayed behind, he observed from where he stood. Youngsters were too emotional, they let their hearts run amok and rush into battle. They were all so foolish sometimes, yet that fool of a grandson he has a least follows his heart. Even Bookman knows that Lavi has a good heart and knows it'll lead him to the right direction, even if he stumbles along the way. "Let's go!" he shouted with a grin, his large mallet in hand ready to strike even if it was Mei herself. She would've wanted them to fight her and stop her instead of giving up on her. _'Please hold on a little longer... We promise we'll get you back... Mei.' _

_'Innocence Invocate!'_

"2nd level Innocence activate! Gouka Kaijin: hi-ban!"

"Clown Belt!"

"Saiyaku Shourai: Ichigen!"

"Please don't hate us for this Mei!" Lenalee called out to the still figure that stood there with her eyes fixed on them and a grin that was almost too scary to look at.

"Do what you will exorcists! Earl-tama will kill you all!" she laughed and Lenalee frowned with sadness. Never would she ever want to see this kind of scene again, having to fight against her own friends. They will end this all now.

"Hirikaze!" Lenalee cried kicking her feet out towards Mei. Allen's Clown Belt caught itself around her as she felt the flames come forth at her. Both Kanda and Lenalee's attacks forced her back with a tumble. She took a deep breath and began to submerge her body into flames.

"Innocence Invocation: Maximum level!" she shouted into the air as the flames around her burst into black ones. Her eyes turned a glowing yellow, Allen and the others were pushed back from the immense power, but he held onto to her tightly. They just had to get to her.

"Don't let her reach maximum level!" Bookman called out sharply, they all looked behind at him, confused. The hot wind that was blowing was scorching their skins, they had to retreat a few steps back. "Don't you idiots remember what Komui said? If she pushed herself too far with her Innocence her body will deteriorate. Human bodys aren't meant for such things as manipulating nature. Her Innocence is a double edged sword!" he reminded them, Allen's eyes went wide for a second when he remembered something from one of his missions. It was the mission back in Lyon when Mei had torched one of the akumas that had attacked him, her fire was black back then. It was after that she went into one of her melt downs, he turned back to the black tundra of black fire before him with gritted teeth.

"Mei!" He rushed in without thinking twice and the others stared at him bewildered. Kanda shook his head with disbelief.

"Idiot." he muttered under his breath. Allen leaped into the air and struck his left arm at the fire as it forcibly pushed him back with hot wind, but he didn't give up on his will to get through to her. His Clown Belt rendered her arms useless, all the while Allen pushed forward with his arm. He could see her in the midst of all the red and black flames, all the wind that had made her hair a mess. She was crying, her soul was crying out for someone to save her.

----

"Ara... Where is everyone? Lavi? Lenalee! Allen! Where are you guys!" Mei shouted into the darkness running. She turned around and realized that nothingness was surrounding her like a cape of darkness. "Everyone...?" she mumbled weakly.

"Ah, seems like you're all alone again Mei." a voice called out to her with a giggle. Mei turned around to see who had spoken to her. No, she can't be alone! She's found a new family to be with!

"You're wrong! Whoever you are!" she replied angrily with a pissed expression. From the floor a spiky haired doll like person came forming out of the ground. She was grinning at her like mad and it gave Mei the chills. "Who are you?" she asked cautiously. The form began to wiggle and it broke free of the floor and came walking towards her, Mei frowned slightly.

"Rodo Camelot, Noah of Dreams. A super human that God himself has chosen as a supreme being. One that will survive after the Earl destroys this pitiful world that you and your exorcists friends live in." she introduced herself with a smile, there was no features to the being that came up from the ground. It just had circular eyes with a wide grin staring at Mei; Mei almost wanted to laugh at the whole God business. So, this Rodo person was a Noah- one of the most feared people in history by the Order next to the Earl.

"You're the one who took me captive... What did you do to Lenalee!" she questioned hastily and Rodo giggled again at her reaction. "Chosen by God? What kind of bullshit is that? God is never that forgiving... If the world was to die, you'd die right along with us." she said glancing at the unmoving figure. The doll stood there frozen, it's grin gone but replaced by a thin line. It tilted it's head at her and suddenly frowned.

"You irritate me. You won't survive in my world Mei... I'll let you watch all your friends die here by my hand over and over again and then I'll kill you myself!" Rodo told her briefly. In a flash Mei's body was overwhelmed by a powerful pain in her stomach that spread itself along her body, soon her whole being was consumed by a burning sensation from deep within. Mei screamed clutching her head, it hurts, it really hurts! _'Someone... anyone... Please save me!'_

----

"Mei! Hold on!" Allen yelled, he was glad that the uniforms that Komui made them were this sturdy, if it wasn't for them, his clothes would've burned through by now. He was almost there, he just needs a little bit more to reach her. He turned towards Lavi, "Lavi! When I get this open, go for her!" he shouted and Lavi nodded. Mei literally roared as the fire soared into the air sending Lenalee and Kanda falling back and hitting the base of the train.

"Damn, she's running out of control." Kanda said wiping dirt off his face, Lenalee pushed herself up and stared horrified at the tornado of black fire with a screaming Mei in the middle. Images of Suman's togaochi came flashing back at her, when he fell and his Innocence tested him for his sins.

"We have to save her... We at least have to save her this time! I won't let another die because of Innocence!" she stood up and ran forward, _'Innocence... Lend me your power.'_ Allen gave his arm one last push through the wall of fire with all he has when he felt a gust of wind push the whole bigger. His head tilted back to see Lenalee and her new crystallized Dark Boots at work. She grinned down at him with a determined look and nod, Allen returned one in reply. There was a shattering noise below them when they realized that Kanda had attacked the base of the storm.

"Che! I won't stand around looking like a buffoon." he said darkly, Allen just chuckled to himself. Even when Kanda seemed like he didn't care, in truth he did.

"Hu ahhhhh!" all three pushed, there was a sudden crack in the wall as it shattered before them. "Lavi!" they shouted together and Lavi smirked extending his mallet's handle.

"Got it!" he said flying past them and into the ragged edge gaping hole. He reached his hand out towards the burning girl with her mouth wide open in a scream. "Mei!"


	18. Waiting For Your Call

A/N: REVIEW! :D

Chapter 18: Waiting For Your Call

"Mei!" a voice rang out before her and she opened one of her eyes slowly to look out into darkness again. Her body was in constant pain and she can't seem to activate her Innocence in this realm. Mei felt so tired and limp that she gave up trying to ease the pain a while ago so now she was just laying there letting the pain riddle her insides. She reached a hand out towards the voice, that voice that she's been waiting for when she noticed her arm was flaking and disappearing. She retreated her arm and held them to herself.

"Lavi..." she mumbled with her eyes shut. _'I want to see everyone again... Everyone and their smiling faces, the way they'd greet me when I return from a mission...' _The picture of a group of smiling people came to mind, everyone was there- Komui with that large smile of his, Johnny and Riba with the rest of the science department, Jerry, Allen, Lenalee, even Kanda would be there with his sour face. Most of all, she wants to see that goofy look on Lavi's face that she knows will always make her laugh. She reached out again, not caring about the pain and continued to search for that light that held his voice. "Lavi..."

"Mei!" Lavi shouted as he fell from the hole that the other has managed to make, his flaming hair flaring in the wind. He landed with a thud, a blast of fire and wind dared him to touch the sole presence of the tornado. Lavi blocked himself with his arms as he glared at the bright center, it was definitely hot in here. He was sweating himself crazy in this tunnel of heat, he reached an arm out out to yell out in pain. It burned him, so her Innocence wasn't allowing him to touch her... What about Innocence with Innocence? He pulled out his hammer from it's holder and held it above him, within this small frame tunnel, it was going to be hard to aim.

"Ozuchi Kozuchi! 2nd level of Innocence activate! Mizu-ban!" he smashed his hammer through a seal that read 'water' and slammed it against the metal ground. It reverberated a bit before a large water like dragon came slamming down. There was a loud hiss and a lot smoke when Lavi reached for her body, the fire around won't go out too long as for his water attack on it. He only has a few seconds to get to her before everything starts up again. "Mei... Dammit! Come here!" he growled punching his arm through the smoke and grabbing her moist body. He could feel her body burning up again as she squirmed in his grasp; Allen had already left his Clown Belt off of her, now it was all but to get her to settle.

"LEt gO yOU DAMn EXORCIST!" she screamed incoherently, she burst into flames again as Lavi held her tightly against him. He shut his eyes out at the pain that was plaguing his skin at the moment and concentrated on not letting go. He wasn't going to let her go again. "WHY WON'T YOU LET GO!" it roared. She wasn't Mei, this wasn't Mei. This wasn't the girl that he's been fretting his feelings about, he wanted the other one back... The one that would look at him with that gentle smile when he made a joke. Where was the old Mei?

"Mei... Listen to my voice and come back to me... please..." he begged her, the flames engulfed them both in a haze of black and red.

"Lavi!" Lenalee screamed watching the both of them being consumed by the dark wall of fire again as the smoke alleviated from the spot where Mei was. She was about to run forth to help when Allen stopped her with a bruised arm.

"We can't go near that thing at the moment." he said calmly wiping his bloodied face onto his other arm. Lenalee couldn't believe what he was saying, she brushed his arm away and continued on when she felt his arm around her waist and pull her back. "Lenalee!"

"He'll burn Allen! He'll die if we don't do something!" she said with tears in her eyes, Allen pulled her close and held her tight.

"I don't believe Mei has the heart to hurt the one person that she loves the most, Lenalee." he told her gently, Lenalee looked back at him surprised then back at the tundra of fire before giving up. "I feel that he might be the only one that can stop her."

"Let's just hope you're right Allen..." she murmured watching the fire and smoke that was circulating around the front of the train. Kanda and the others sat there silently praying that this would all end, this might even end up at the cost of another exorcist to them. Lenalee couldn't help but let the tears flow down, it's all too much bear watching two of her friends being swallowed up by fire. She closed her eyes tight and bit down on her lips, "Please be safe you two..."

----

Lavi felt the rush of fire then nothing, he tweaked his eyes to see if he was indeed dead or still alive. He pinched himself and winced at the pain, so he was still alive, if so, where was he at the moment? He opened his one good eye and looked around him, everything was dark from where he stood, as if in space. Lavi dusted the ashes from his black jacket and pants, the new uniforms were so much lighter to move in than the last and very durable it seemed. The fire had just left a few holes in the sleeves, Lavi shivered, not wanting to think about what would happen if it weren't for the uniforms Komui made.

"Lavi..." a voice called out to him, he turned suddenly at the source of it, only to find emptiness greeting him. But, he knew that voice and he frantically searched for it.

"Where are you Mei? Can you hear me?" he shouted out, it echoed out towards the vast nothingness. A laugh greeted him a second later and he frowned, he also knew that giggle from anywhere. He had suffered at her hands not a while ago, it was the worst feeling ever being trapped inside one of her dreams.

"Lavi, Lavi, Lavi." she taunted as she appeared in the dark sky above him, she floated down on an umbrella with a sardonic grin. "Well, we meet again Lavi... To bad I wasn't able to kill you last time, I did promise you freedom if you were found me. Shall we play that game again... But this time we'll be using her as a leverage." she pointed to her left, Lavi turned and there under a spotlight was Mei withering on the ground. He whirled around to face Rodo with his weapon drawn and a snarl on his face. Now she's pissed him off for good. "What's wrong Lavi? Why so mad?" she asked sarcastically with a grin.

"Don't fuck with me Rodo." he spat out angrily, tightening his grip on his Tessei. She laughed maliciously at him and twirled around on the umbrella, when she suddenly turned around and lashed out at him with her attacks.

"Let's play then!" she said happily, she showered Lavi with multiple purple streaks that can cut through almost anything and launched herself at him with Rero in her hand. Lavi gritted his teeth as he withstood the attacks with his mallet as a block. He skidded back from the power of her attack, he forced it to the sides with a thrust of his large mallet. "Not good enough Lavi!" she cried out kicking him in the stomach and sending him flying towards the other end. He pushed himself up and ran forward whacking the bottom of her umbrella that screamed and cursed.

"That hurts rero!" it cried out with tears in his eyes, Rodo looked down at it and smiled apologetically, "Earl-tama will be mad for taking me without permission again rero!" it told her. Rodo just stuck her tongue out him. She suddenly felt a thud on the ground and she looked down to see a symbol below her, she frowned when glanced up at the red haired boy. He was glaring at her with that menacing green eye of his, it was rather charming really, but not as cute as Allen Walker himself.

"Gouka Kaijin: hi-ban!" he called out sending Rodo and Rero into an inferno tunnel of flames.

"Rodo-sama!" Rero shouted at Rodo, Rodo turned and smiled at him mischievously and placed a finger on her lips. Rero looked at her and understood, he blasted out of the fire before he too was burnt up and into the darkness. Lavi didn't bother to watch as he scrambled over to the body on the floor, Mei's hair was sprawled out below her like a pool of blood when he stepped back in horror. Her body was flaking like Allen's arm when he used his arm too much during battle in China. Lavi sucked in a breath and placed a hand on her cheek.

"Mei...? Wake up." he said gently, Mei slowly opened her eyes and smiled then winced as if pain was refusing her the control of her own body. "Don't move, I'll carry you out of here..." he said, he heard her sigh in defeat.

"I told myself that I wouldn't need saving when I was transferred to the Order." she said lightly, "Yet, I'm always getting myself into situations where I'm always being saved by either you or the others, seems like I can't really fend for myself very well." she laughed, "I'm sorry I'm such a handful..." Lavi shook his head at her.

"You're not a handful at all, a bit stubborn sometimes, but not a handful." he stated with a pat on her shoulder. He looked at her current state and frowned, her uniform was torn and scattered over her body, plus she was looking fragile and weak. He took off his jacket and placed it over her, hoping to shield off some coldness.

"I must look horrendous right now..." she mumbled decrepitly knowing that her body was acting up unusually, Lavi chuckled at her and shook his head again.

"Nah, you look fine. Let's get out of here Mei and go home." he commented with a grin, she nodded slowly and closed her eyes. "Just rest Mei and leave everything else to me..." he said softly scooping up the girl in his arms.

----

The fire started to die out slowly, first the smoke disappeared then the tornado turned to just a bit of flames, but Lavi and Mei still hadn't come out yet. Lenalee searched with her eyes for the possible whereabouts of her friends. She refused to believe that they were gone, Mei and Lavi couldn't possibly have died so easily. There was still a few large doses of fire burning relentlessly before the 4 exorcists. Bookman narrowed his eyes when he smiled, he suddenly felt the presence of his grandson and Mei. So they had made out alive, what a relief that was. For a moment he was scared that Lavi had perished in the fire since he lost contact with his spiritual presence. A burst of red flames sent Lenalee, Allen, Kanda, and Bookman a few steps back as they watched the newly born flames rise into the air.

"What the hell..." Kanda muttered blocking the sudden burst of power, as fast as the flames came it disappeared. Lenalee squinted her eyes to see through the smoke that surrounded the train front when her lips broke into a large smile.

"Allen! There! They're right there!" she said ecstatically pointing to the dark figures in the smoke. The haze parted and there they were, with Lavi kneeling on the ground and a limp Mei in his arms. He looked up once then twice to see if he actually made it out when he heard his name being called upon. He looked over and saw Lenalee and the others coming towards them.

"Allen! Lenalee!" he called out, he stood up and ran forth when he felt a sudden pang in his legs that shot through out this body. He suddenly keeled over and dropped Mei who fell and skidded a few feet from him.

_'What the... My body seems so heavy all of a sudden...' _his minded was dizzy as the world around him was spinning out of control before he passed out with his hands stretching out towards the fallen girl before him.


	19. Confined

A/N: Ughh.... So tired... T-Tx almost thanks giving- Hooray~

Chapter 19: Confined

"Hmmm. This is more severe than I had originally thought." he said looking down at the patient, her body twisted itself as the pain came again. "Was she able to activate her maximum leveled power?" he asked the others, Bookman stepped up.

"No, we were able to prevent that from happening, but it seems she synchroed up to at least 95% of her power. If she had continued she might have ended up like Lenalee." he informed the head supervisor. Komui frowned painfully as he watched Mei struggle against her unstable Innocence, red flames would come at intermittent intervals making her squirm at the pain. Dear god, he preferred anything but this, the fact that she looked so much like Lenalee made him think about the possibility that his younger sister came back to him in this state rather than the form her Innocence had made to protect it's user.

"What do we do supervisor?" Riba asked with a hand scratching his head, "Medical care won't do her any good until her Innocence stops acting up." Komui folded his arm against his chest with his teeth biting his lower lip. Truthfully, he didn't know what to do since this was a first time thing that he had to deal with. Allen's condition of restoring his anti-akuma weapon was different than this situation and Lenalee's case was also different since Mei wasn't able to get to 100% of her power. He clicked his tongue and lowered his face into the shadows, he turned and was about to leave when he turned to Bookman and the others.

"Keep watch over her, record any changes. Bookman... Do what you think is best for the others for now. I'm going to see if I can find anything in the lab to soothe her pain." he instructed and left. Bookman looked back on the girl that was now crying on the strapped bed, Mei looked at Bookman with teary eyes.

"Please... It hurts, make...Make it stop." she cried, Bookman closed his eyes and walked over to her. Due to the fact that he was an exorcist with Innocence he was able to get close to her.

"Mei, I can't do anything about this pain. Unless you quell your own Innocence, there's nothing we can do." he told her, she screamed as another wave of pain racked her body. her head fell limp to the side as she sniffled.

"No more... I don't want this! Why is my Innocence doing this to me!" she asked helplessly, she shut her eyes to the dark lab settings around her. "Can I see Lenalee and the others then?" she asked humbly. Bookman gave her a blank stare before he spoke anything.

"Would you like them to see you in this form?" he questioned back, Mei didn't object to his question for she didn't care anymore. She just wanted to see the others really badly, she wanted to apologize for the things she's done.

"I guess... This is the right form of punishment." she mumbled silently as she watched Bookman leave her bedside. Riba and Johnny who was standing by looked at each other sympathetically and sighed. This was the tough part about being in the Order, it was watching children suffer at the hands of Innocence and they can't do anything to ease the pain.

"Would you like us to get them for you?" Riba asked kindly with a smiling Johnny next to him. Mei looked up tiredly at the two and smiled gently with a nod, so there was still generous people out there in the world.

"Thank you Riba-san... Johnny." she said softly, they just nodded a 'no problem' at her before exiting the building that they stored her in. Even if it was against the rules for others to enter that part of the science department, he couldn't just watch the lonesome girl suffer down there alone. If he could ease her pain just by a little by brining some friendly faces for her to see then the consequences would be worth it.

Lenalee and the others sat around the living room area, it was unusually quiet around them. Kanda and Marie was dispatched on a mission with General Tiedoll to retrieve a new piece of Innocence in Czechoslovakia. Lavi and Mei were under intensive care from the burns they suffered. So the remaining four consisting of Krory, Allen, Lenalee, and Miranda sat in the uncomfortable silence. Miranda would glance at Lenalee once or twice before averting her gaze back to Allen. Krory sat helpless against the situation as it seems impossible to save. Everyone knew that Lenalee was worried about the two that she wasn't able to sleep at night for the past few days.

"Lenalee, I know you're worried, we all are... But you have to get some sleep Lenalee. I promise you that they'll pull through. Lavi's tough, don't count him out just yet." Allen said standing up and kneeling before Lenalee and taking her hands in his.

"I'm scared Allen... I don't know if I can keep watching my friends die around me." she said heavily wiping her eyes. Allen looked up at her with a worried expression, it pains him to see her so sad. He knows what they mean to her, they were the only family she has asides from her brother. Even if the Order is like a prison to her at times, slowly she's made this place a home where she can come back to where people would greet her with smiles and open arms. Without her friends, she'd be nothing- if the world was saved without them in it, she would rather die. He wasn't use to doing things like giving hugs to the opposite gender, but he felt that at this time Lenalee needed someone to hold onto.

"Lenalee..." he awkwardly out his arms around her and patted her shoulder to calm down. "It'll be alright." he soothed. Lenalee clutched onto Allen as Miranda and Krory looked at each other worriedly.

"Oy!" a voice called out to them, the 4 heads turned around to see a waving Riba standing at the entrance with Johnny next to him. "I have a message from the sick ones." he said with a grin and thumbs up. Lenalee was the first one up to walk over to Riba with a hopeful face. Riba looked down at the girl and smiled half heartedly, "She's not well Lenalee, but she requested to see you guys. Keep it a secret from your brother or else me and Johnny will be in big trouble okay?" he said with a wink and a finger to his lips. Lenalee nodded with a grin, Riba motioned her to follow after him to the secluded place where Mei was being treated. Riba opened the door slowly as a piercing scream came through the door and Lenalee gasped taking a step back and hitting Allen.

"What... What is that, what are they doing to her down there?" she asked shaking from head to toe, Riba looked back and tried to explain.

"We're not doing anything to her, it's her Innocence... At this stage it's unstable and it's battling inside her mind for control." he told them with a push the doors opened wider. Allen and Lenalee stepped in but Miranda and Krory stayed outside. Allen turned to them and gave them a quizzical look.

"You're not coming in with us?" he asked them, the two just smiled at them with a shake of their heads.

"It's okay, we'll get to see her when she's better. I think right now, she needs to see you two the most... We'll be right here when you return." she assured them that they weren't leaving them behind. Allen and Lenalee made a face of regret before descending down the steps of the dark room and disappearing into the depths of the spiraling science department. Their eyes adjusted themselves to the dark before the dim lights of the lanterns took over the hallways. Riba lead them further down until they came out of a darkly lit room and in the center was a tired looking Mei that was seemingly sweating from the fiery attacks on her body. Lenalee walked over hesitantly in case she was disturbing her sleep, she swept away some hair that was sticking to her face and placed it gently in the side. Mei opened her eyes weakly and smiled up at Lenalee, Allen walked up next to her with a smile on his lips.

"Hey," he greeted with a small wave, Mei stared into his soft gray eyes and grinned a little. Her heavy heart became a bit alleviated at seeing them, she's been cooped in this dark hellish place for who knows how long. "How you feeling?" he asked pulling up a chair for Lenalee and himself. Mei scoffed a little before wincing a little and giving him a 'screw the informercial channel' look.

"Like hell." she answered him with a laugh, "Damn Innocence has my body twisted in a fit." she added bitterly on the side with a bland look, "Give it a few more days, I should be fine." she claimed with a thumbs up.

"You better get better," Lenalee objected with a decided look, Mei looked at her surprised then burst out laughing only to end up coughing her lungs out. Mei's face was twisted in pain from all the hacking, but all the same you can tell that she was laughing at Lenalee's statement. Allen had rushed over to get a glass of water for Mei, she took it and right when she was about to drink it a burst of fire erupted from her hands crushing the glass. The shattered pieces fell to the floor in little pieces as it fell clinking like small pieces of metal. Lenalee and Allen stood up and started to clean the glass up and throwing them away.

"I'm sorry..." she mumbled watching the two on the floor, Lenalee glanced up with a smile.

"It's okay Mei... Just get better, and we'll call it even."

"Okay Lenalee, I promise I'll get better." she chuckled. She pulled herself up little by little so that she was leaning against the headboard of the bed and turned her face towards the two. The excursions weren't coming as often, but all the same, they hurt like no other for her. "This is going to leave a mark later, strangely the moment you guys entered... It doesn't hurt as much." she groaned throwing her head back.

"Seems like you're getting better at least, that's great to hear." Allen noted, Mei sighed wiping her brow with the sleeve of her arm.

"It's still hopeful, though I'm still pretty sure you heard the screams earlier..." she lamented with a embarrassed face. She looked down at the sheets and sighed, "I'm really sorry..." she apologized suddenly. Lenalee and Allen looked at each other confused then back at the sorry looking Mei. She looked up with a despondent smile, "I'm sorry I dragged the whole team down by having you guys look for me, then people got hurt because I let myself get captured by the enemy..." Lenalee shook her head before taking her hand and giving her an encouraging look.

"Don't blame yourself... You did all that because you sacrificed yourself for the sake of getting Sarah's Innocence." she exclaimed, Allen nodded enthusiastically even though he wasn't there for the mission, he knows what's it like to carry all the burden of something. Mei lowered her eyes, "Yet, we weren't able to save her were we...? There goes another exorcist..." she sighed heavily, "How's Lavi?" she inquired looking away to the floor, she bit her lip when a surge of pain came through again before raising her head at them. Lenalee pursed her lips before she divulged anything to her.

"We don't know, but he's in intensive care right now..." she revealed, "But, don't worry. Komuinii-san said that he's alright." she added brightly, though she knew that that wasn't going to help Mei feel any better.

"I'm horrible." she spoke out defeated, she ran her hand through her long hair, "I'll pay him a visit when I get better... Though I do hope that he gets better before I do." she suddenly turned to the two sitting next to her and cocked her head at them confusingly. "Ne... Where are the others? Hm, you two seemingly are always together... I wonder..." she asked as she closely examined the two. Allen's face turned pink and pushed Mei back to her bed, Lenalee looked at the two with a blank expression.

"It's not like that!" he refuted with a flustered look, Mei just crossed her arms and gave him a stubborn look.

"I'll believe it when I see it." she declared with a smirk, Allen's face puffed a bit before poking her back. Mei winced from his touch and whirled around at him with a frown.

"Okay, enough you two. Mei needs her rest now, now shoo before Komui founds out you two are here." Riba's voice came in from the shadows. The three turned to see a grinning blonde man walk out with a clip board and head phone on. Allen and Lenalee stood up and waved at Mei before they were escorted out by Johnny. Mei looked at Riba and gave him a smile.

"Thank you Riba-san." she professed and he gave her a quirky grin. "Seeing them seemed to have eased the pain..." which she was quite right, the electric field in which she was producing earlier dimmed to a 2% rate since Allen and Lenalee visited. "You think I'll return to normal soon?"

"Of course kiddo," he expressed happily, "All you need is some more rest before you're good to go. I'll see if I can bring the others down some other time okay?" he told her as he patted her head softly. She smiled and nodded before slipping into bed again. Riba turned and walked a few paces before sighing and looking at the data sheet before him. He just didn't have the heart to tell her the truth.


	20. Yuki & Chocolate

A/N: I've lost something I seemingly can't get back, I've lost the muse from within myself to keep going with the thing that I love. I'm up against something that I can't seem to beat down, an obstacle that's too difficult to pass over. It's tiring... T.T Onegai Kami-sama... Dasikede...

Chapter 20: Yuki & Chocolate

Snow began to fall around the new Order's headquarters in London, little flakes descended to earth like little white flowers. Covering the trees and ground with a layer of white, it was like walking into a whole different world. Mei was staring out the window when she shivered, she hated window and was pretty glad that March was coming along soon. She was never the one for cold weather nor did she ever really liked the heat, she preferably liked fall the best since it wasn't cold or hot. It's been almost two weeks since her escape from Rodo's clutches and she couldn't remember much from that time, but she was glad that she was back. In total she's only been at the Order since the end of November, so that would mean she's been here for almost three to four months. She sighed making a heavy sheet over the window from her warm breath; the others were out on missions and Komui insisted that she stayed behind since she couldn't do anything. Mei looked down at her legs and sighed, her leg muscles hasn't completely healed yet so they were still a bit shaky. She's been using crutches to get to places and its been giving her a hell of a time since she wasn't use to using them. Mei pushed opened the door to her left and poked her head through, the sounds of machines beeping entered her ears as she came through the door. She walked over to the bedside and pulled a chair to sit, letting her crutches lean against the table.

"Ohayo... Lavi." she announced softly, "The skies are still gray, but there's snow! I know you would've loved it." she said happily looking down at the sleeping red head. His hair was displaced and messy since his head band was taken off and placed next to him on the bedside table. Lavi's been like this since that rescue mission, the burn marks were evident and apparently he had injuries to his head as well that hasn't allowed him to wake up from the long slumber. Mei touched his bandaged hands and shut her eyes, Komui had said that it was a miracle that he had only gotten away with small burns that weren't even considered 1st degree. She hadn't meant to hurt him so much, when she heard his voice out there that day she tried her hardest to make the fire go away. She really tried. Tears fell from her eyes when she looked up surprised at herself, she laughed and wiped the tears away.

"I'm sorry... I cried all over your bed sheets Lavi!" she stammered wiping the wet tear stains with a tissue, but her voice was shaking so much and her hands were trembling so that she couldn't stop herself. She clasped her hand over her mouth before she let herself go, the tears really didn't want to go away in the end. "Gomen ne Lavi... I should've really tried harder huh?" she said with a wavering grin, her nose was sniffling from all the tears and the cold weather. "I promise I won't be such a stubborn idiot anymore... So onegai Lavi... Okidaiyo." she vowed poking a finger at his warm cheeks. Unknowingly, outside the doors stood Komui and Riba with very solemn faces on.

"She's taking this really hard." Riba stated into the air, his eyes took in the back of the girl and the sleeping Bookman Jr. Komui sighed pinching the bridge of his nose, a cup of coffee in his hands; Riba watched the tired supervisor and sighed.

"Only because she has the same habit as Allen, who likes to shoulder burdens by themselves. Constantly blaming themselves for other people's misfortunes." Komui mused quietly, Riba mussed his hair before pointing to Komui with a frustrated frown.

"Are you done loitering in front of the infirmary yet? I know you're trying to get out of doing more paper work Komui!" he accused and Komui gave a baffled and scared look as he stepped away from the accusatory finger.

"Whaaat?! I would never!" he exclaimed running away from Riba, a vein throbbed dangerously on his temple as he chased after the head supervisor.

Mei stared at the calendar on the wall when she realized something rather important yet unimportant. It was three days before the 14th of February, which meant it was almost Valentine's day. She wondered if the others even celebrated Valentine's day since it was an American tradition and all, or if they were even going to make it back on time. It wasn't like she liked Valentine's day, in fact on that day she seemed to be more crabby than usual- supposedly seeing all the lovey dovey people at the North American Branch had always made her feel ill. Yet, it wouldn't hurt if she made something for everyone when they got back since she does have time on her hands right now. She straightened herself and looked down at Lavi before taking her crutches under her arms.

"I'll come back tomorrow Lavi, ja." she said placing a kiss on his forehead before leaving to the cafeteria to ask Jerry a favor. Mei made her way down to the cafeteria as people were leaving from breakfast. Good, there won't be too much people around when she asks Jerry. She went straight to the window where the food was served and looked through the prison like bars when Jerry's head popped out.

"Morning Mei! What can I get you today?" he asked when Mei raised hand to tell him she wasn't here for breakfast but for something else.

"I want to ask you a favor Jerry." she said with a smile on her lips, Jerry tilted his head at her as he held onto a ladle in his hand. "Can I borrow your kitchen?" she asked with a bright smile. Jerry gave her a surprised expression before saying anything.

"What do you need my kitchen for?" he questioned carefully at the long haired girl, Mei looked down sheepishly.

"Well, the thing is, it's almost Valentine's day and I want to make some gifts for everyone when they get back." she stated absentmindedly. Jerry's face lightened up at the prospect of Mei giving her crush a chocolate treat.

"Valentine's day?" he threw that word in his head a bit before Mei was looking at him strangely, "You mean that holiday that they celebrate back at your home country? What's it like there?" he asked genuinely curious.

"You guys don't celebrate it here in England?" she questioned with a surprised look, "Eh, the usual- pubs, moving to the west, revolutions. It's the perfect time for the Earl to make his akumas from mourning wives and children. What else is new." she explained bitterly with a dark look. Jerry was sorry he asked that question, seeing such reaction from a child broke his heart almost to pieces.

"I'm sorry I asked Mei," he apologized, Mei brushed it off with a smile.

"It's okay, it's the truth anyways... I was wondering if you'll help me with them." she added with a sly grin and Jerry couldn't help but agree to her since she was so adorable. "I'll come back later when you're not so busy, thanks Jerry." She exited the cafeteria when she ran into someone and stumbled backwards. Someone grabbed her arms before she fell to the floor and she looked up.

"Riba-san!" she said surprised, he smiled at her as usual when he flicked her forehead. Mei frowned at him for his little flick. "What?" she asked him.

"Good news for you." he informed her, Mei cocked her head at him in confusion, "The boy's awake." he said satisfactorily and Mei gave him another weird look before it got through to her.

"Ah! He's awake!" she repeated and Riba nodded, she literally threw down her crutches and stumbled forward against the wall. "He's awake!" she kept saying over and over again with a large smile on her lips. Riba followed after her with a worried look as he watched the girl hobble forth.

"Oy... Oy! You shouldn't be doing that! Komui's going to get mad at me if you're injured again!" he told her, he walked over and pulled his arm around her waist to help support her falling weight. "At least let me help if you're going to run to him, baka." he chided at her, Mei smiled up happily at him that made even Riba flush. Together they walked towards the infirmary with Riba holding onto Mei so she wouldn't fall. They came upon the door and Riba knocked before they heard Lavi's voice come through. Mei's heart pounded against her chest as her stomach knotted itself together in anxiousness, she strangely felt excited. It's been so long since she was able to see him actually awake. Riba opened the door slowly and walked in with Mei in his arm, it only took Lavi a second to process the image when he scurried out of bed with a stricken expression on his face.

"RIBA! YOU CAN'T! THAT'S A CRIME! DON'T BE LIKE GENERAL CROSS!" he screamed at the two, a sudden vein came into vision on his fist as Riba slapped Lavi on the head.

"Don't put me in the same category as that womanizer Cross, and honestly Lavi! What are you thinking!" he said angrily, Lavi looked up sheepishly and laughed rubbing his head a little from the punch.

"Okaerinasai, Lavi." Mei's voice came through the two, Lavi and Riba both looked towards the girl that was smiling at the two with her gracious smile and flushed. How embarrassing was it to be seen by a girl when they were both acting like children. Lavi returned the smile at her and sat on the floor grinning.

"Tadaima."

----

"No, that's not how you make it Lavi..." she said taking the burnt chocolate from his hands, Lavi gave her a stubborn groan before walking to the other side of the kitchen where Jerry was preparing another potful of dark chocolate for them. "Here, try this." she said handing him a stick with a chocolate dipped strawberry on it. The top layered with white chocolate streaks as decoration marks against the dark colorings of the chocolate itself. Lavi popped the strawberry into his mouth and pulled it off the stick and chewed when his face lit up.

"It's good!" he complimented with a thumbs up, Mei smiled at him and laughed. She turned back to the bunch she has already made and went on making each strawberry as unique as she could.

"Of course! I was surprised myself when she started working the kitchen like it was her own backyard." Jerry said coming over and giving Mei the pot in his hand, she took it and nodded a thanks before her concentration was once again taken over by the other pieces of delicate work. Lavi leaned over her shoulder, placing a hand on the table and watched her work. Her small slim fingers made each line exquisitely perfect as if she's worked in the kitchen all her life.

"I've always had a love for the kitchen making sweets... I loved the aspect of making beautiful food that people can enjoy and eat at the same time. Mama had always praised me in the kitchen, yet scolded at the same time for taking over the kitchen too often." she explained, she peeled a piece of caramel off once of the containers and added it to the already beautifully done strawberries. "There was so many things I wanted to try, but the job of being an exorcist came first and the things I looked forward to suddenly halted. I try to take advantage of the time I have when I can to enjoy the things I usually can't do." she looked up at Lavi, their faces inches away, "What about you Lavi? What do you like to do when you have free time?" she asked, Lavi suddenly stepped back from their close contact. He scratched his cheek, looking away to think when he took up a spoon and looked at it with slight interest.

"I read, since I was young I've been trained to read and memorize." he said, Mei looked over at him with a white chocolate covered spoon in hand. "There's nothing else that I do, but that."

"I never asked you what your gramps taught you to do, I'm asking what _you_ liked to do." she said walking over with spoon in hand and pointing at him with a smile. "You can eat the rest or wash it if you want." Lavi took the wooden spoon and licked the spoon a litte. The sweet liquified state of the white chocolate overwhelmed his dull tastes buds, a smile formed on his lips. His eyes observed Mei as she worked, she had a sense of gentleness about her that she hardly showed on the battle field.

"We should do this more often." he noted licking the rest of the chocolate off, being able to spend peaceful evenings like this, he really liked it. Mei looked at him with a puzzled look, but grinned at him anyways.

"Okay... That's a promise."


	21. The Way Snow Falls

A/N: Hooray for a short week of school because Thanksgiving is here, oh gosh- Gaining weight this holiday.. DDD:

Chapter 21: The Way Snow Falls

"Finished!" she cried loudly while clapping her hands together in happiness, it had taken them almost the whole day to make the batches of treats in front of them. Lavi laid dead on the ground from exhaustion; the whole thing was more tiring than he had thought. He didn't think that she'd be that into making these candy-like presents so much. "Thank you Lavi!" she giggled throwing herself at him.

"Ora, ora." he replied patting her shoulder with a smile, he didn't want to know the consequences of her being so close to him at the moment. "It's my pleasure helping. Shall we start cleaning then, miss?" Mei looked at the mess before and cringed a bit.

"We should've been more careful..." she said biting her bottom lips, Jerry came back into the kitchen with clean pots and looked at them both.

"Oh deary, you can just leave those here- We'll clean them later, you go get some rest, you too Lavi... Komui will have my hide if I let you two out of bed too long." he said with a bright grin. Mei boxed her head at Jerry for letting them go without cleaning duty as Lavi led her out. They walked along the silent hallways when Lavi looked out the window with a smile.

"It's snowing!" he said giddily, Mei nodded, he unexpectedly took her hand and pointed to the skies with a large grin. "Let's go outside!" he said, Mei looked at him strangely before giving him a shake of her head and a chuckle.

"For just a while okay?" she told him, he smiled brightly at her as she gave his hand a squeeze. "Let's go."

Bundled in a warm scarf and large coat, Mei shuddered slightly at the cold that still seemed to penetrate through her thick cotton jacket. Her eyes fell from the skies to the playing Lavi that was making large snow balls with his mallet. He seemed like he was having fun, it was like the injuries he's obtained earlier didn't slow him down a bit. Even she envied his seemingly large amount of energy that was stored away in his body. The orange long scarf floated in the wind as her cheeks suddenly felt the cold breeze prickle her face like a thousand needles. The crutches were leaning against the stone fence that guarded the Order outside as she sat on a cold stone bench, watching the red haired boy in front of her play his heart out. She fumbled her hands into her pockets in search for warmth, her breath was making little puffs of clouds every time she heaved a breath. She twiddled her fingers within the pockets before bringing them out and lighting them on fire, the light threw her face into dancing shadows as the warmth splashed itself against her face.

"Oy, it's so cold..." she complained to herself. Lavi didn't seem to mind the cold at all, in fact he seemed to love it in the cold. There was a dull numb pain to her hand when she activated her Innocence nowadays. Komui didn't want her to be pulling another fast one with her Innocence or else it'll just damage her body that much quicker. After she was released from the bottomless pit of that science department she's been called away sick from missions until she was completely okay. Lavi seemed like he would be fine after a few more days, that meant he'd be on other jobs with the other exorcists. "Mo iyo... Not fair." she grumbled, she hated feeling so useless against the others. It's bad enough she can't fight, but she won't be able to sustain her Innocence longer than alloted time Komui had given her. Well on technical terms, as long as she doesn't synchro again near 100% she should be fine, at the current point her synchro rate is 85% so which gives her a 5-7% increase in power before she starts to 'backfire'. Innocence was really a double edged sword wasn't it? She hadn't expected life would be this difficult after accepting the light of God, or so she had thought. She clenched her hands and watched the fire go out with it when a shadow casted itself over her; she looked up to see Lavi looking down at her with his bright green eye. He turned and leaned against the wall with his hands behind his head, the usual stance that he was so famous for.

"What's with the serious face?" he asked her with a sigh, she gathered herself a bit and shook her head with a wave of her hands.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking what I'll do once I'm in commission again... I feel as if I need some akuma ass whipping or else I'm going to sit here all day on my butt and rot like a dead corpse." she replied looking out into the whiteness of the large buildings surrounding them. Everything was covered in a sheet of thin snow, it was sort of blinding to her eyes.

"Oy, such serious thoughts! You and Lenalee are unbelievable when it comes to these things, like I told her- You need to think sexier thoughts or else you won't get anywhere with the opposite sex like that." he grinned absentmindedly with his face red and drooling when Mei fisted him in the face for such vulgar thoughts.

"I don't think that's any of your concern mister look-at-every-cute-girl-I-see." she retorted angrily. She's been told of his bad habits with cute girls in his life, whether they were human or demon, he seemingly didn't really care. He fell to the ground with his hand rubbing his face and giving her a sour look and pout, "Stop comparing my to Lenalee... It's always 'oh you and Lenalee, this..' and 'Lenalee and your thoughts, that...'. I'm not Lenalee." she told him getting up with a huff; she grabbed her crutches and began walking away.

"Your hands are warm..." he said out of no where, Mei turned to look at him with an angry face only to see him smiling back at her. "You're hands are really warm." he repeated again. Mei's face fell reluctantly, but she tried maintaining a pissed expression. Her hands twitched a bit when it burst into flames.

"Would you like me to keep you warm?" she asked giving him an evil smile with that devious glint in her eyes. It was like watching Allen turn into the devil when it came to talking about General Cross's debts that he had to pay off. Lavi laughed nervously, this side of her scared him; he wondered if everyone had a devils side to them- seemed like everyone in the Order had strange secret personalities.

"Why not? I'm freezing right now... We can keep each other warm." he told her sweetly with a Cheshire Cat like smile. Mei kicked him further into the snow with her foot, her face throbbing with veins and a death look.

"Baka. Have Lenalee warm you up." she gritted through her teeth, she literally whipped herself around and started walking away, "Always talking about Lenalee... Comparing us like one person." she muttered under her breath, "Mata ku... Even for him it's too much." she rubbed her head and entered the warm insides of the Order.

-----

Mei let the sudden warmth of the insides wash over her as she took off her thick jacket and began storming off towards her room. She didn't know why the things he said pissed her off so much, but it did. She was in the middle of trying to unscramble her thoughts when she heard a loud boom of laughter come from the other end of the hallway then yelling voices. The laugh and the loud voice were familiar too her, a second voice added itself known as she heard it apologizing over and over again. She strained her ears, it was definitely Kanda that was yelling his lungs off. So he was home from his mission to look for the Innocence in Czechoslovakia, it's been almost a week since she's last seen the rest of the others. Kanda came into view and she could tell that he was pissed beyond hell, well it was normal as Allen explained to her. Kanda gets very irritated right after he finishes a mission and to her guess since he went with Tiedoll, he must've teased Kanda a whole lot on the way.

"That's what I hate about you the most, Master Tiedoll!" he yelled frustrated, his long dark hair was swishing behind him violently as he turned his head over his shoulder. He was wearing a dark blue top with no sleeves that left his arms bare that allowed her to see a large black tattoo like thing crawling from his chest to his shoulder. In his arm was his new black and red uniform that was distributed out by Johnny and the others earlier on. Mei had been standing there in a daze when Kanda ran into her suddenly jerking her awake from the contact. "Get out of my way volcano girl." he growled at her, she frowned at him.

"Kuuu~ Always so cold Yu-san." Mei pouted at him with a stern look, "Ara? General Tiedoll was teasing you again wasn't he?" she asked slyly with an evil look on her face. Kanda's lightening reaction had Mugen to her throat with a death glint in his black eyes.

"Never, and I mean NEVER call me by my first name. Secondly, I dare you to say that about Tiedoll again." he threatened. Mei felt a sheen of cold sweat break out on her brow when she laughed nervously. _'Kowai, at this rate, he'll make me into sushi pieces!'_ she thought frantically. She threw up her arms with fake crocodile tears from her dark brown eyes.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I won't tease you again Kanda, I promise!" she yelled in a panicked voice when someone pulled Kanda away from her. She looked up and saw Marie grappling Kanda's arms with his large muscular ones; holding him back. He made a small bow of an apology for Kanda's actions and Mei just gave him a wavering smile.

"Now, now my son- No need to vent your anger on a lady. That's rude!" a deep voice came through as a wild haired old man stepped through with a dark green shawl over his wide shoulders. He had paint stains on the shawl as paint brushes stuck out from his brown messenger bag, his large glasses slipped once or twice off his crooked nose and he would have to shift it up again. Kanda's head whirled around with the same death glint in his eyes as he kicked his feet to be let go.

"I'm NOT your son, so stop calling me that!" he told him frustrated and annoyed at his persistence to call him that. The man just laughed and Marie just shook his head as if to tell Kanda to not fight with their master, for he is someone Kanda can't win against in an argument. Mei stifled a giggle, but suddenly let it out and Kanda gave her a reproaching look.

"There's no use fighting General Tiedoll, he won't listen to you Kanda. His personality's just like that!" she giggled helplessly when she hobbled forth towards the old man and looked up with a large grin, the ill feelings from before evaporated as she gave the old man a big hug. The crutches fell to the ground with a large clatter as Tiedoll ruffled the top of her head. "To think I'd see you here of all places... Otojii-sama." she said softly. Both Kanda and Marie froze in their wrestling positions of Kanda trying to escape his clutch as their eyes went wide at what they just heard.

"Oto... Otojii-sama?!" they both said in surprised unison, Mei looked up with a blank face and nodded, "When did you have a niece, master?" Marie asked as he let Kanda drop to the floor, Kanda clicked his tongue at him before patting himself of the dust. Tiedoll shrugged his shoulder, he looked up towards the windows like he was trying to think to the specific day he started having a niece.

"We're not related by blood, but I've always known General Tiedoll as 'uncle'. He traveled with my parents when I was young, so I came to know him pretty well." Mei explained, "But he disappeared after he went on another mission." she said with a small shake of her shoulder.

"I thought I told you guys," Tiedoll said absentmindedly as he scratched his beard in thought. Kanda was about to blow his top with his heavy breathing and shaking fists, one can literally feel the death aura around his body.

"Mo... General Tiedoll! If you keep teasing Kanda like that, he'll might just blow one day." Mei said in a scolding voice and a pointed finger. This time he burst out laughing at her and Mei sighed with a shake of her head.

"You're a spitting image your mother Mei..." he finally said to her with his hands over his face from the hard laughter. Mei rolled her eyes, like she didn't get enough of that from other people back home now she had to be reminded by this guy.

"Well I'm glad you're home safe, you guys." she said happily, folding her arms across her chest. Tiedoll gave her a thankful smile before he started sniffling and Mei started backing away, it was a sure sign that he was going to burst into tears. Artists were so emotional...

"Ah, Mei! I've missed you so! You've grown into such a lovely young lady!" he cried out trying to throw himself at her in a hug, but Mei sidestepped and narrowly escaped his death hugs.

"Otojii-sama!" she declared with her hands on her hips and he shook his head, his brought a tissue out and wiped his nose with it before looking up at her through his glasses.

"There seems to be a surprise for you out in the front halls, Mei." he told her excitedly, he stood up and Mei gave him a confused expression. "It seems like Alphonse is here!"


	22. Seeing You Again

A/N: A new character shall be showing up, but he's not going to stay long- just someone to push Lavi and Mei a little into furthering their relationship- :D

Chapter 22: Seeing You Again

Mei stared at him for a whole minute in silence before she turned around and picked up her crutches only to walk away. Tiedoll and Kanda stared at her back as Marie listened to her fading footsteps. Alphonse. Alphonse Williams, age 21, he currently worked at the North American Branch as a head scientist. He was her best friend, they had grown up together in the Order since they were young. Despite the 4 year difference, he still wanted to be her as a friend. What was he doing here? She wasn't walking straight as she let her thoughts wander dangerously into unknown sects of exaggerated assumptions.

"Wait... Aren't you going to go greet him?" Tiedoll asked her worriedly, Mei turned around and laughed unbelievingly at him.

"You're kidding right? Tell me you're kidding, otojii-san." she said in a pleading voice, she couldn't deal with Alphonse right now- not when she still needs to figure out what to do with Lavi. Alphonse can get protective over times when it came to the issue of her and other guys and it's quite embarrassing sometimes even though she feels rather elated that he's protective of her.

"I'm not teasing this time Mei, he's out in the front hall. He's here to help study the Ark with Riba and the others, Komui called him from overseas. I thought you and Alphonse were best friends, why won't you see him?" Tiedoll asked cautiously, Mei sighed and shook her head.

"It's not that I don't want to see him... I have my reasons, otojii-san." she stated blandly, "I promise I'll go make a visit when I get my thoughts together... It's not everyday you get to see your best friend after a 4 month disappearance." she said with a smile, she turned around once again and started to walk off towards the end of the other corridor.

x x x

Her crutches clacked against the black marble floors and her thoughts were still in shock when she heard footsteps behind her. Mei turned around, her dark brown eyes met with that of a shocking green one that caught her off guard for a moment. She exhaled and brushed her hair behind her ear for moment before turning around. Lavi grounded his shoe to the ground as if he was too nervous to say anything.

"What is it Lavi?" she asked him quietly, her eyes didn't have the courage to look at him either. The two just stared at the black floor as the silence evaded them like a skunk's dirty smell. His hands were twisted up together behind him and he was biting his lips pretty damn hard that they were turning red. "Lavi..." she coaxed. He looked up at her and smiled sheepishly at her.

"Lenalee and the other's are home, let's go greet them yeah?" he mumbled quickly before his eyes shut close getting ready for the impact. Mei didn't move from where she stood, at the moment she wasn't too excited to be around Lavi. Something inside of her was boiling and she felt annoyingly frustrated at his closeness with Lenalee. She sighed before waving at him to go and greet them, he didn't need to ask her, she would've gone sooner or later.

"You can go first... I'll catch up later with you. I need to get something first." she lied blandly as she walked away from him, Lavi watched with pouted lips at her from her sudden cold shoulders. Had he done something wrong or was it something he said earlier that made her made her mad at him?

"Was it something I said?" he asked himself in the middle of the empty halls before scratching his head and walked off towards the front entrance of the Order. Mei frowned with her eyes to the ground, ah- she herself was pretty cold towards people when she's angry. It shouldn't be right for her to ignore the others when every time she came home they were always there to greet her. Mei stood there and contemplated in her mind whether she should go or not. There was one other reason why she didn't want to go, if she went that meant she would see Al there too most likely. It took her several minutes before letting out an aggravated sigh that she turned around and went back towards the direction where Lavi was headed.

"Lavi! You're awake!" Lenalee's voice came through, she ran down the long hallway and greeted him with a pat on the shoulder to see if he was actually standing. Lavi chuckled and nodded with a quirky grin on his face. "We were all so worried about you, thought you would never wake up again!" she said with a hint of fear in her voice.

"Lavi!" Allen's voice penetrated the air, the two turned to see a running white haired boy accompanied by a blonde haired 19 year old behind him.

"Aha, seems like two spots is still with us huh? Thought he was gone there for a moment." Lavi said in a low voice, Lenalee giggled as the two approached them.

"You're alright!" he said checking if everything was there, from his face to his legs. "You are alright! That's great, thought you were going to keep sleeping there for the next month- Jesus, scared me there for a moment." Allen sighed with his head down as Lavi patted the top like a child.

"Sorry I worried you," he said, Allen swatted his hand away with an irritated look as Lavi gave him a fake sour look.

"It's not me you should be apologizing to, but Mei- she's the one that's been looking after you since she herself was discharged." Allen told him walking away towards Lavi's grandfather with Link following behind. Lavi was surprised to hear this fact, it had seemed from her earlier actions that she didn't want anything to do with him and that she was purposely being cold towards him. He scratched his chin in thought before a voice woke him from his thinking.

"Excuse me, did you just say Mei?" a male's voice asked, Lenalee, Lavi, and Allen turned their heads at the voice to see a tall young man with light sandy hair, smile at them. Lavi looked at him strangely, he seemed foreign and not from here with a heavy American accent. He was about probably in his early 20's or late teens with his messy blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing what the other science department people were wearing: a large white lab coat with the sleeves partially rolled up. Lenalee walked up to the new stranger and extended her hand at him, he reached out and shook it gently.

"Lenalee Lee, the Head Supervisors assistant and sister. You must be Alphonse Williams, my brother told me you'd be coming." she introduced herself to him politely, just when he was about to say something in return, Mei's surprise voice broke through the chatter.

"Alphonse?" Mei uttered out in shock, the other's heads turned to look at her. Her eyes were wide open with bewilderment and her lips were half way parted like she was going to say something. "Alphonse..." she repeated again as if still in shock. The man only laughed at her sudden awkwardness and nodded.

"Yes, I'm Al. Mei, Are you just going to stand there and ogle at me all day?" he teased her, Mei's cheeks turned suddenly red at his words when her lips broke out into a large smile. She put her crutches to the side and made a small leap at him as he caught her in his arms.

"Alphonse! I thought I wasn't going to see anybody from home again...!" she cried excitedly, looking at him. He'd grown a bit more mature looking since the last time she saw him, which was the day she departed for London 4 months ago. "Jeez, every time I'm away, you grow a bit older." she observed, he frowned at her, but then laughed. Lavi felt a sudden urge to remove the two from each other as he watched the supposedly 'reunion' between friends. Lenalee looked at him from her side view and giggled, so what Allen had said early was true. She didn't know that even Lavi felt these kind of feelings since it seems he liked to play around so much.

"I suppose, what happened to you? Look at you, you're in crutches! Jesus, without someone to watch over you, you're all over the place!" he scolded, Mei crossed her arms in front of her chest with a scowl. "Hai, hai, gomen." he apologized with a pat on her head.

"Alphonse Williams!" Komui's voice from above at the balcony, Alphonse looked up with a grin and waved at the curly haired supervisor. "Thank you for coming, I must admit I was doubting if you'd make it to London since the other headquarters was destroyed."

"I heard it was because of your infamous Komuvitamin D, you ass." Alphonse said sarcastically with another wave. Komui frowned at him like a baby as he came down the stairs in a hurry. "But I must say that this place is much better than that heap of junk that you called a headquarters... It's hell getting up to the main building if you didn't know the underground river."

"It wasn't my fault Alphonse!" he whined with tears coming to his eyes, "Someone had distributed the virus around!" Alphonse scoffed before walking around him to take a better look at the new headquarters for the Order. "Well only idiots would climb the the damn thing." Allen's eyes suddenly sparkled with a hint of death in them as he looked at Komui and Komui shrunk away into the shadows.

"Well I'm here to check up on Mei anyways, so I can take a look at the thing's you've requested too." Mei's ears perked up at her name, she turned around. He looked at her with a smile. Mei sighed, these yearly check ups were really a pain in the ass, it was tedious and a lot of paper work- truly a waste of her time.

"Lenalee, please show Alphonse a spare room, he'll be staying with us until the repairs are done on the Ark." Komui instructed, Lenalee nodded and had Alphonse follow her to the hallway where all the rooms were held. He waved to Mei who gave him a small smile back, it was nice to have someone back from home again. She heard a small click of a tongue as she looked up at a disapproved Lavi and frowned.

"What's wrong with you, Lavi?" she asked rather curious that he might just be angry that another male companion was to keep her company. He folded his arms and looked the other way as his lower lips tucked out a bit in that way that told you that he was unsatisfied with something.

"Who _is _that?" he muttered out loud, Komui walked over with files in hand as he flipped through the papers. He looked up at the remaining people that were in the hall that consisted of Mei, Lavi, Allen, and Bookman.

"He's a renowned scientist from the North American Branch that's here to help us fix up somethings that we can't seem to figure out. His name is Alphonse Williams, age 21, lives in New York state." Komui explained, slipping his glasses up his nose again, "Please treat him like you'd treat others, Lavi." he directed the question at him more than anyone. Lavi gave a glare back at the 27 year old with his sharp green eye.

"Look who's talking." he retorted, Allen chuckled at the immaturity of the two and Mei rolled her eyes at them all and smiled.

"Okaerinasai minna." she said softly.

----

"You seem fine in the long run of things, you should be able to be back on the battlefield soon enough." Alphonse informed her as he looked through the papers of her records. Alphonse tapped her knee once than twice before sighing and letting things settle the way they were. He closed the paper files and looked up at the girl who was kicking her bare feet into the air mindlessly. "Even if I said that, you shouldn't push yourself too hard..." he murmured at her. Mei reached out and ruffled his hair, "Oy, don't do that! Makes me feel like a kid again." She laughed at his words before looking down again.

"Honestly, I wouldn't mind going back to those days where the Earl, exorcists, this war... None of it existed, I guess there's a part of me that wants to stay ignorant." Mei sighed looking out the window that was spewing in sunlight. Alphonse glanced at the long dark haired girl and exhaled a breath through his nose, something was bothering her. Alphonse turned around and put his tools into the drawers as he questioned her.

"What's wrong?" Mei turned her head and laughed a bit, Al was the one that could always read her no matter how hard she tries to hide it. "Don't even try to lie to me Mei Chang, I know you probably better than yourself."

"I doubt it Al," she laughed, her eyes averted themselves to her legs as she activated her Innocence, "I'm scared Al, this war- why are humans so aggravatingly stupid? The Earl... It's like he gets more powerful with each step we take and it's bound to get to a time where he can just smash the organization just like that." she snapped her fingers on fire when Al turned around and gave her a hard, but gentle expression.

"Don't think like that Mei, the Black Order's exorcists are getting stronger too aren't they? I mean look at you, you're able to syncro up to 93% already." he told her with a pat on the shoulder, Mei wasn't convinced enough as the tears came silently to her dark brown eyes. "Whoa, no need to cry Mei... I can't promise you that this war's going to end anytime soon, but I can promise you that everyone will try their best to protect this place." he soothed putting his arms around her small shoulders and pulling her into a hug as her body shook with tears.

"I... I'm scared everyone's going to go up in fire... I'm going to lose everyone that I love again Al..." she cried on his shoulder, "I hate this job... I hate this war... Why, why do we have to do it?" she asked desperately.

"Because... Because we're the only ones strong enough to do it..." he replied solemnly.


	23. 3 Reasons on a Red Day

A/N: Please reviews guys! ): It's rather important since it's the thing that keeps me going at this story! ;D

Chapter 23: 3 Reasons on a Red Day

His footsteps took him to a path, a path that was already made and he squared his eyes at it. This wasn't what he wanted, he wanted to make his own road to walk... He'd promise Mana that he'd never stop walking, that he'd keep going until he can't walk anymore. So... What was this that was before him? He doesn't know what was right and what was wrong anymore, all he wanted was for all this confusion to end. His heart wrenched deeply within himself as he stood before the grassy pathway. _'Mana... Mana... Mana!' _

Allen suddenly awoke from his sleep in the wake of cold sweat as his eyes scanned the ceiling of his room. His chest heaved deeply with each breath, Allen crossed his left arm over his head and covered his eyes with it. It was that dream again, he's been having that reoccurring dream almost every other night. Every thing that's happened so far has been a nightmare to him, even though he can't change the fact that he's the new 14th, there's still something awfully wrong about it. It wasn't fair that his life was to erode away as his other self takes over. No. He wasn't going to lose to the other 14th, he made a promise to Mana himself. Allen heaved a sigh before closing his eyes and tried to get some sleep before the morning came around.

The sun came through his shutters without any problem as Allen shifted in his bed, it was futile to try and get anymore sleep so the white haired boy crawled out of bed. He slipped on his clothes and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Link was already in the bathroom putting toothpaste on his toothbrush when he saw Allen walking in with a half asleep face.

"Allen, please. When you wake up, try to wake up fully." he told him as he faced the bathroom mirrors again. Timcanpy flew by with a towel in his mouth ready for Allen when he needed it. Allen just sighed a depressing sigh before getting his toothbrush and paste into his mouth and began scrubbing. Lavi walked in with the same dead face with Bookman following behind and the two set to cleaning themselves as well. Bookman made a scoffing noise at his grandson as he gave him a disapproving look. Link dried his face and looked at them all, "Well, good morning to you bunch. I'll be heading over to breakfast, I will be seeing you there, Allen Walker, in 10." he instructed him. Allen nodded tiredly, Lavi turned around with a mouth full of foam to look at Link who was walking away.

"How can he be so cheerful in the morning...?" Lavi groaned going back to spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing his mouth out and then continued to wash his face. He raised his head from the water, his messy long red hair flung water everywhere as he did. "Ah, refreshed!" he called out and Allen laughed wiping his face with his towel in hand. Bookman threw a towel at Lavi that whacked him in the head from behind.

"Don't fool around Lavi." he chided and Lavi stuck out his tongue at him in return. "I'm going to breakfast." he told the two boys in the large bathroom. Allen looked at Bookman then at Lavi, Lavi shrugged.

"Don't worry about him, he just has low blood pressure in the morning that makes him all grouchy." he explained walking out with Allen next to him. Timcanpy landed on top of Allen's head when they made their way down towards the cafeteria. Lenalee appeared out of her room as she joined them on their way towards breakfast.

"Morning you two," she smiled brightly with her hair clipped to the sides today. Lavi and Allen both nodded a 'good morning' in return as the three entered the noisy cafeteria area that was filled with Finders and other exorcists. They approached the barred serving area as Allen began listing off what he wanted to eat in the morning, it was amazing what a kid can eat at a growing age! Both Lenalee and Lavi just picked out a set A breakfast combo and left with a satisfied Allen. They saw a wave of white from one of the tables and they looked over, Lenalee smiled and waved back happily at Mei who was motioning them to sit at their table. Link was there with his mound of cake and sweets as he sat there rigidly eating across from the two. Allen noticed the change in Lavi's face when he saw Alphonse smiling at them too, Allen shook his head making his white hair flutter between his fingers that were now sprawled on his face.

"Lavi, we barely met the guy- stop giving him dirty looks already, and stop with the immature acts too!" he said with a small scary smile, Lavi gave him an incredulous look as his expression showed part annoyance and part major denial.

"What are the heck are you talking about?!" he said with gritted teeth, he didn't know what these 'immature acts' that Allen was talking about. Allen gave him a 'Yeah, whatever' look before sighing, Lenalee giggled next to them.

"One, you tripped him in the hallways yesterday, Lavi." Allen started counting his finger, he was about to say another when Lenalee's voice interrupted him.

"Two, you shoved that pile of books on him when we were at the library." she added and Allen raised another finger. With each finger it was like another pound of guilt added onto Lavi's shoulder, soon he'd be on the floor crawling with all that weight.

"Three, you spilled that bowl of soup on him last night at dinner." Allen noted and Lavi's pride just shrunk to almost nothing. "What do you have to say for yourself, Lavi?" Lavi just clicked his tongue like Kanda does and gave off a shrug with his shoulders. His sullen green eyes told them that he was not in the mood to do this as they headed over.

"That's why they're called 'accidents'." he muttered as they sat down, Mei was sipping through a juice box when she saw Lavi and his angry look. Her eyes traveled from his to Alphonse, his light blue ones were staring back at Lavi in an apologetic way as if he was sorry for something he had done. The table had gone deathly silent as the two looked at each other, Mei sighed, Lavi was really too much! He was acting so immature, he's been sulking since Alphonse got here! Plus, she was still a bit pissed at him for the things he said to her yesterday out in the yard. Lenalee leaned her head in to look at Allen with a worried look, she was afraid if this went on it was going to end out terribly. Mei was pretty oblivious that Lavi was jealous of her and Alphonse's relationship, and clearly Lavi was too stupid to see that Mei was upset about something with him. It was rather frustrating with these two, Allen just shrugged his shoulders at her helplessly. Jerry's voice suddenly penetrated the dense tension between the lot as his hands brought down Allen's immense order from before.

"Here you go Allen, my dear!" they all looked up startled for a moment when Mei's lips broke out in a smile.

"That's right Jerry, it's today! Will you help me bring out the treats for everyone?" Mei asked sweetly and Jerry of course agreed. Mei disappeared with Jerry into the kitchen with three curious eyes following them. Allen looked up from his mound of food and gave them a confused look, "What's today?"

"Valentine's day." Alphonse answered swiftly, "That's strange though, Mei doesn't usually celebrate Valentine's day..." he added at the end, "She's changed so much since she left." Alphonse laughed. Lavi gave him a small glare, small enough that he didn't notice; so that was what the chocolates were for from the other day.

"I've heard of that, it's an American tradition isn't it? When you give your loved ones chocolate right?" Lenalee asked with bright eyes, when it came to these things that involved sweet romantic gestures Lenalee had some interest. Alphonse gave her a sturdy nod and a grin, "Ah! I wonder who she'll give hers to!" Lenalee said giddily. Mei came out with Jerry and both in their hands were two baskets of neatly wrapped candy pouches, they approached and began passing out cellophane wrapped candy to each one of them.

"Happy Valentine's day everyone." Mei smiled sheepishly, Lenalee, Allen, and the rest gave her thankful looks before throwing themselves at her in a hug. "Uwahh!" she uttered under all the weight, Lavi and Link stayed behind. Lavi touched the packet of candy in his hand. It was different than everyone else's... He was sure since he had helped her make the rest of the batch so when did she make a different one for him? He looked up at the laughing group, a slight pink tinge crossed his cheeks as he looked down with a smile. A warm feeling tingled his hands that flowed towards his face.

"I'm sorry guys me and Al have an appointment with the books in the library today, I'm glad you liked the gifts and all but we really need to get going." Mei said with a half smile, "Come on Al!" she said taking his hands in hers as she dragged him from the group hug. The blonde boy gave them a wave before the two disappeared into the wave of Finders that were coming in at the doors. The feeling suddenly disapperated as he watched their motions, why was it that that guy bugged him so much whenever he was with Mei? It was so frustrating! Lavi was about to follow suit when Allen stopped him with his arm, he gave him a warning look.

"I'm not going to spy on them or anything." he started with a large smile, "I just forgot to tell her something." he said raising his hand with the chocolate. Allen narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously and Lavi gave his shoulder a pat. "You don't trust me? All these years since we've been friends Allen! How could you doubt me?" he cried with exaggerated tears.

Allen folded his arms and gave him a reproaching look, "It's because it's _you_." Lavi just laughed at him with a wave of his hand, "You know we're suppose to be helping Jerry prepare for _that_. We **promised**." he emphasized the last word, Lavi nodded his red haired head as he started jogging towards the direction of the library. His head band bobbed up and down around his neck when he nodded with a wave, all Allen could do was sigh- He couldn't stop Lavi now if he had wanted to. Lenalee gave his shoulder a small reassuring pat and she looked at his silver gray eyes that shone darkly of something he dreaded.

"They'll be fine..." she said, Allen just groaned into his hands as Lenalee chuckled uneasily. "I hope." she added for more comfort.

"Why do I have this feeling that Lavi's going to do something stupid again?" Allen moaned out between his fingers, Link stepped next to Allen with a fork of cake in his mouth and frowned.

"Probably cause he is." he answered curtly. Allen shot him a dagger look before standing out straight again with a defeated sigh.

"Well we should probably get started since Alphonse's distracting her in the library and Lavi's AWOL`ed us." he began rolling up his sleeves in preparation as Lenalee cleared the tables for them, "Shall we?" the rest of them nodded with secretive smiles on their lips as if they were holding the treasure of the world.


	24. When the Heart Stains Black

A/N: I must say that I rather liked this chapter very much... Not only because I was able to put in 'The Tower' but because something shocking will occur that will send Lavi and Mei into a path of decisions! Review! Yeah, too bad I don't own Lavi though...

Chapter 24: When the Heart stains Black

"My head hurts just looking at these manuscripts!" Mei complained, she threw a pile of paper over her shoulder and slumped forward into a mass of books that were lying on the ground. The two had managed to get everything the Order had on Noah's Ark and anything that seemed related to it. Mei was helping Alphonse dig into the subject that he was ordered to help out on, and that was to figure out the Ark's foundation and how it worked. Alphonse gave her an apologetic smile, Mei just waved it off, "I take that back, I promised you that I'd help and I'm not going to go back on my word on that." she mumbled as she picked up another book and flipped through it. "Though the Ark is truly amazing if all the things you're telling me is true, that it's more like a whole town than an Ark. I didn't know that the people back then had that kind of technology in hand. It's almost like..." the pages of the book in her hands landed on a dark picture of a large skewed tower, Mei picked up the book and tilted her head. Alphonse looked over his shoulder to see what the sudden silence was about when he saw her look dazed into a book. She placed the book in her lap and turned it towards him and pointed at the picture, "...Like the Tower of Babel." she finished. Alphonse took the book and scanned the picture, the town looked almost similar to the tower with its white white walls and green shrubs, it even had the tall center building like the supposed Babylon tower. He glanced up from the text and looked at her with a thoughtful expression.

"But, the tower doesn't exist Mei... It's like the lost city of Atlantis." Alphonse pointed out, Mei took the book back and looked at it as her eyes read the lines.

"The tower signifies defiance against God doesn't it?" she asked, her fingers landed on a line in the book and she began to read, "'The builders or else called the 'generation of secession' said: "God has no right to choose the upper world for Himself, and to leave the lower world to us; therefore we will build us a tower, with an idol on the top holding a sword, so that it may appear as if it intended to war with God". The building of the Tower was meant to bid defiance not only to God, but also to Abraham, who exhorted the builders to reverence. Some among that sinful generation even wanted to war against God in heaven, thinking that it's a possibility that they can own the Upper World as called 'The Lord's Kingdom.' God, seeing what the people were doing, gave each person a different language to confuse them and scattered the people throughout the earth. It was God, Himself that couldn't bring Himself to destroy His beloved children on Earth. It was the only way He could teach them a lesson as He has seen that the Great Flood had not taught them the lesson He intended to place on them. He then raised his mighty fists and destroyed the Babylonian Tower with his hands.'" she closed the book shut and took a deep breath, "What if, and I mean what if... The tower still exists?" she hinted as her dark eyes looked up at Alphonse. He raised his eyebrows at her in question, he folded his arms across his chest and cocked his head for more information when it suddenly dawned on him on what she was saying.

"Oh lord, could it possibly be?" he said in a hushed voice, for a moment he had a scared face on, the face that didn't want to really know the truth, "No... You think?" Mei shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, it's just speculation at this point. Like I said, I'm just helping and this is what I came up with. I can all wrong in the end, so no point in taking what I said to heart, Al." Mei stood up and stretched her sore legs and arms, she didn't need crutches anymore and it was all thanks to Al who had brought over the necessary medicine for her so called 'meltdowns'. Al placed a hand on his chin and looked at the ground as the thoughts began to circulate in his head.

"It does make sense though, I mean... It's stated that the scattering of His people only showed the Lord's contempt for human pride, which could possibly explain the diversity of the Noah Clan. There's a chance that the 'data' the Earl talked about might be the ruins of Babylon in which he had collected to make the city within the ark. Since, it's almost certain that that kind of building that reached the heavens can't be done just by hand. It's impossible, but with the help of the Earl... The Noah Clan, the ark... Everything clicks one way or the other." Alphonse murmured, Mei looked down with a tired face.

"What I'm trying to say is, look at it this way: the tower itself represents human audacity to defy God himself, to wage war that creates akumas for the Earl. Because, if the tower really caused the war between human and God, isn't it reasonable for it to be the essence where the Earl uses it to create his akuma army? If the ark is the tower, then it's just another symbol of the Earl's hatred towards Him. The Millennium Earl is mocking God, he's saying that even at ruins, he will rebuild it and destroy Him and his followers. We got lucky that Lulubelle wasn't able to get the final egg in the end, but I have a feeling that that's not going to stop them. Even if we do have the ark at our disposal." Mei yawned, "This is tiring... I don't know how Johnny and the others handle this kind of stuff. Jesus, I feel like I just read a year's worth of information." She grabbed a chair and twisted her back so that her kinks were all released. "I think I'm going to go, we've been here since breakfast Al! I'm hungry and my brain's fried." she muttered with a hand in her hair that was partially messy from the lack of carefulness on her side. Alphonse stood up with a handful of books in his hands and began to put them back on the shelves as Mei did the same behind him, just so the process of cleaning would be faster. The cramped space between the two shelves had them almost back to back, but not quite. There was a short hum from Alphonse's side as the clacking of the books remained in pattern as he put them back in their rightful places. Mei's hands searched the names of the titles as she helped him in cleaning the mess that they made on the floor when she picked up the tune that he started. She recognized the small lullaby tune, it was the same one that her mother had sung to her when she was young.

"I see you still remember it," he said softly looking up at the top most shelf and inserting a book there, she looked over her shoulder and scoffed lightly at his joke. His light blonde hair fell across those soft blue eyes of his as she turned around and leaned against the shelf with the books in her hands.

"Of course I would, it would be a shame on my mother's name to forget." she told him straight forwardly and prodded him in the back with a finger. He laughed at her and turned his body around to face her as his hand touched her cheek gently. She smiled up at him lightly as he tilted her head, "Al...?"

"Hm?" he answered her as his face got closer to hers, his brilliant eyes locked with her mysterious dark brown ones that whispered out the secrets of her heart. She dropped her books and wrapped her hands around his shoulders and exhaled her small held breath.

"You know I can't go back... My duties are here now. I'm sorry that I left you, even if I hadn't want to. I've found something here that I need to protect, I know I have no right to ask for your forgiveness Alphonse." she she said softly into his white jacket that always seemed to be around him like an angel. She had always looked up to Al whenever she was down, he was her best friend and her only 'family' that she could really trust with her troubling secrets. He was the one that truly comforted her when both her parents died, he was the one that protected her fragile heart at that moment. Shielding her from the cruelness of the world, the true nature that humans harbor in their souls. "Please don't hate me for this." she said sadly as she felt him give her a soft squeeze in his hug.

"I could never hate you Mei, and you know that." he told her gently pulling her away to look at her with a despairing smile that made the guilt feel worse than ever. "I love you too much to ever harbor ill feelings against you, all I want is for you to be happy... Even if it means giving you away." The stinging feeling in her heart was making it's way towards the rest of her body as she felt a wave of loneliness wash over her from his words.

"I'm sorry I caused you so much grief Al..." Mei apologized. He had confessed once to her when they were younger; she was 10 and he was 14, but she had brushed him off that time because she was still too young to understand those kind feelings. Yet, as they grew older she saw his form of love for her grow exponentially and once again that fleeting memory of that day always came back.

"Then just leave me one thing..." he stated with a small smile, she gave him a puzzled expression. "Even if you can't come back."

"Anything." she replied, anything so she could ease that pain of his- the pain in which she had caused him these pass years. He leaned down unexpectedly and kissed her tenderly on the lips, her eyes went wide for a brief moment when she felt that time had somehow stopped in its midst at this precise moment. A shattering sound of falling books caught their attention when both of them looked back and saw a fallen tall, red-haired Bookman on the ground. Mei's breath caught themselves in her throat as she watched his grief-stricken face taint themselves red from being caught at such an awkward moment.

"Lavi!" Mei reached a hand out, but he just flinched away with an angry look, a different kind of stinging pain stabbed at her. He stood up and wiped his face of the dust as he started backing out from the two. "Lavi, please wait..." she didn't know why she had to explain, it wasn't like this was his business anyways. Yet, she felt that she had to or else everything felt ruined. She wasn't in love with Alphonse, yet she did... In another way, a way in which she saw him as an older brother. "Lavi!" she called out, he was ignoring her; that last look was too much to bare. Alphonse looked to the ground with a troubled look on his face as he watched Mei go after Bookman Jr. That might as well be the worst time to see the two have seen them together, he knew that look in his eyes- it was the eyes of a jealous man. It wasn't hard for Alphonse to eliminate the factors to see that that boy also has an interest in Mei.

"I'm sorry, Lavi." he muttered regretfully.

They had arrived at the hallways as Lavi zoomed down the walkway as fast as his legs would take him. He couldn't believe what he just saw, somehow it had hurt more than he had thought it would. That kiss... What the hell was that?! His hands turned into fists the more he thought about it, his reached up and mussed his red hair up. It fell all over his face since he wasn't wearing his head band at the moment when he heard her voice echo in the hallways.

"Lavi!" she called out to him, it only pissed him off that much more when she did. "Laviiii!" she was beginning to sound irritated since he was continuing to ignore her. "Damn it Lavi, stop being so childish." that was the last straw from her as he whipped around.

"Is that all I am to you! A immature 18 year old?! I can't match up to Alphonse's standards can I?" he shouted at her, she flinched back at his outburst and back stepped a step. "Always the childish one of the group! The one that can't seem to grow up."

"I never said that Lavi," she stammered out hesitantly, why was he so mad at her? It was like she killed his pet dog or something, It can't be that he was _that_ jealous of Al, could he?

"Sometimes I wonder if this smile that I give to everyone is even real anymore, it's people like you.. Mei. All you can do is hurt people, you've hurt Alphonse too. Lenalee would-" suddenly a hand slapped him across the face as the sound resonated into the hallway. He looked back at her shocked at her action, Mei's face was distorted with anger and tears as she looked at him.

"You have no right to say that to me Lavi Bookman. You don't know what I've been through for you to make those accusations. I thought I was your friend...You think it's that great every time I hear you compare me to Lenalee? It's like she's someone so perfect! I know I'm not a goddess, but for once Lavi- look at me as Mei and not as Lenalee!" she yelled back at him with her tears falling down, she has never been this angry in her life before. "Baka, Lavi... Would someone that wants to hurt you share their covers with you when your cold? Or when you couldn't sleep, they'd soothe you until you do?" she asked him, now the tears were really letting themselves fall. The memory of those nights when he snuck into her room came rushing back at him, and suddenly he did feel like a huge idiot. He said some pretty awful things to her, he reached out to her to try and appease the sobbing girl. He'd really done it this time. "Don't touch me." she told him, she turned around and walked towards the entrance to the cafeteria with her hands wiping the tears away, Lavi followed anyways.

"Mei..." he started when she pushed open the doors of the great dining hall to find everyone standing before them with large grins on their faces.

"Surprise!" They yelled at her, they raised their cups in a toast at the shocked girl. There was a banner that read: "Happy Birthday Mei!" that hung from the ceiling and confetti that suddenly fell from the sky. Both of them stared at the mass of people with a bewildered look before Lavi slapped his forehead as if he just remembered something. Mei turned around at him and he smiled awkwardly at her for a moment before saying anything.

"Happy Birthday, Mei."


	25. On the Note of Your Birthday

A/N: Oh! I wonder what happens between Mei and Lavi... Lavi and Alphonse in confrontation? :O

Chapter 25: On the Note of Your Birthday

He watched her in amazement at how fast she could recover from a fight, her acting skills were really impressive and the fact that she hid her tears were well done too. The only thing wrong with the party was that she was avoiding his gaze and purposely trying to dodge him. He wouldn't blame her, after all those nasty things he said about her, he'd too would want to avoid himself. Mei smiled brightly at some Finders that were telling her 'happy birthday' and such when she looked up and saw him. Her head immediately turned away to look at someone else and Lavi sighed, he'd really let his emotions get the better of him this time around. She was the second girl that he made crying, the first was Lenalee. Has he been so blunt as to compare her to Lenalee all this time? He hadn't noticed. She sure did look like her in many ways, but their personalities were quite different. Just maybe, maybe, he'd been too rash in to assume his conclusions, he didn't know what was right or wrong anymore. Everything seemed so confusing. Maybe his gramps was right, letting emotions in were nothing but trouble for a Bookman, all he has to do is focus on history and nothing else. But he can't just let her go like that, not after all the things that's happened- even if God wants to deny it, Lavi knew the forbidden feelings he was having for a particular exorcist. A voice behind him suddenly descended down upon him like a thousand bricks as his face fell from his thoughtful dazing, the one person he didn't want to talk to right now was approaching him in matters of seconds. Lavi ruffled his hair miserably to let his fate be decided as Alphonse's footsteps drew closer to him. He heard the older man sigh as if he was tired of playing sherades all day.

"Lavi, at least have the decency to face me when I want to apologize for what happened earlier." he said briskly, Lavi bit down on his tongue to stop himself from pulling out his weapon and smacking the daylights out of him. He turned his face over his shoulders and smiled brightly at him, like nothing was wrong. "Are you trying to make me feel worse than I am now?" he asked him with a dejected tone before Lavi turned his whole body around to face the man. Alphonse was a bit taller than Lavi, but other than that they could lock eyes to eyes with each if they wanted. Emerald versus slumber blue. "It didn't mean anything." he finally said and Lavi's face fell to a confused one. "The kiss that I gave her, it didn't mean anything." Lavi wasn't in the mood to talk about that, it was a sour topic.

"Right, so you just go around kissing every girl you know." Lavi said with a flip of his hand, crap, he'd fire back at the unsuspecting victim without realizing it. Alphonse wasn't one to start fights, and he wasn't going to start now. He knew that jealousy can do some bitter things to people, he had fallen victim to it once before.

"No, not really. It's something I wanted to do for some time now, since it seems like I wasn't able to even start persuading her to come home, I gave her a departing gift." Alphonse replied to Lavi's stark comment with a shrug. The red head looked at Alphonse with critical eyes before opening his mouth again.

"Why does it sound like you're leaving?" not that he was completely ecstatic about that fact, but he was curious. Alphonse hadn't even been here for less than a week and he's about to go? He'd thought he was suppose to help Riba and the other's with Noah's Ark.

"That's because I am." he answered curtly, Alphonse's eyes fell to the glossy floors of the cafeteria with a smile. "She hadn't wanted to come in the first place. Putting her into the boat was like trying to make a dog take a bath, we had to literally tie her down with specialized anti-fire rope to make her sit through it. I heard she had cried all the way here, she's always been the cry-baby of the bunch." he laughed softly, "I thought she would hate it here, so the first chance I got I came here to pick her up. What do I find? Mei wanting to stay behind because her duties are here, rather laughable I say. She was known for being a slacker at home, I guess this place really tidied her up." Lavi didn't know what Alphonse's point was in telling him this story of Mei's life in North America. Was there something he wanted from him? Maybe stay away from her? "So I'm entrusting you the duty to look after her when I'm not around, you understand Lavi?" he said with a smirk and a punch to Lavi's left shoulder. The sudden request shook him off guard about a completely different topic, he had mixtures of different facial expressions before he settled on a disbelieving expression.

"Say what? You want me to look after her? I thought you'd want me to stay away from her." Lavi exclaimed with a point of his finger. Al broke into fits of laughter at his comment, Lavi just made a face at him for laughing. He then looked away with a disgruntled face, "I doubt she'd want me closer than 1000 feet from her." Al gave him a skeptical look, he shook his head at him.

"What are you talking about Lavi? Every time I see her, all she talks about is _you_." he noted calmly, he ruffled some stuff in his lab coat before pulling an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to him. Lavi was still stunned by his last comment to fully see that he was being handed something. Lavi pulled up his hands to get things straight when his lips grew into a smile.

"She talks about me? Like what?" he was getting a bit overexcited over such information when Al leaned back from the sudden closeness of the boy in front of him. Lavi's face changed again when he pulled back and got his composure back again. "Not.. Not that I'm interested or anything." he blurted out at the end with a sheepish look.

'_Right.' _Al's only thought floated through his mind when he raised his hand towards Lavi again with the envelope. "I have another favor to ask of you. Give this letter to her tomorrow morning will you?" Lavi took the envelope from him and examined it, in neat cursive handwriting was Mei's name titled on the front and nothing else.

"Why don't you give it to her yourself?" handing the envelope back at him, Al just shook his head with a small smile.

"My boat leaves tonight, I know she'll be tearing out her hair if we said goodbye face to face. She'll end up sobbing the night away if I don't leave in secret." Al said in a matter-of-fact tone, "The smaller the pain the better, she's already suffered enough."

"You've only been here for three days," Lavi said objectively, "You're only going to make it worse if you leave like this. I think she'd want to see you off, you two are best friends aren't you?"

"My main purpose was to come and check up on Mei, that's all. Those were my orders, I've already extended my stay because I wanted to be here for her birthday." Al prompted from Lavi's previous statement. "When you've known Mei as long as I have, you'll understand what's best for her. You may be 18, but it seems your still a boy to your own heart. Just give it to her, you'll see." Al gave him a wave before turning around, "Also, I'm not backing down from taking her heart, I'll come back- so you better be ready next time Lavi Bookman Jr." with that he headed into a group of people and soon all Lavi saw was the back of other random people in the room with an envelope in his hand.

----

She had clearly forgotten about her own birthday even if it was on Valentine's Day, a rather dreaded holiday. There was just too many problems to think about at the moment than her birthday. She had never really consider her birthday to be of any importance since she has a whole lifetime of birthdays ahead of her, missing one wouldn't be so bad. Mei swirled the juice in her hands with a discontented look on her face, it was suppose to be a 'joyous' day as Komui had fervently put it. There's was nothing to be joyous about, the war, the Earl, Noah's Clan, how can everyone just side look that because of her birthday? Then there was the problem with Lavi too. ARRGH! There was too much to think about! She squeezed her eyes shut when she felt someone's hands slap her shoulder. She snapped awake from her cluttered thoughts and looked up to see Allen smiling at her with those soft gray eyes of his.

"Allen," she breathed out, he stood next to her in his young British clothing with a cup of gelatin like dessert in his hands. "Mo... I feel like my head's about to explode." she complained, Allen chuckled lightly at her. Mei tilted her head to use his shoulder as a resting place as she stared at the crowd before her. She supposed this was a good thing, everyone needed a break once in a while too. Those Finders, they were sacrificing themselves everyday just so the exorcists could do their jobs. She should've been more considerate with her own thoughts.

"Don't think about it too much," he advised, she glanced up at him from her position and frowned, "You should feel happy on your birthday Mei... Don't let the Earl take that happiness away from you too. I know he's already taken a lot from you already." he took her hand and gave it a squeeze, "Smile, everyone's depending on you to be happy today. Even Link baked you pie and it's delicious." Mei laughed, it felt good to laugh- she wanted it to be like this, but she knew her short dream wouldn't last.

"Allen...?"

"Hm?"

"Remember that song I heard you play that first day I came to the Order? We were in the ark." she hinted slightly, she felt his body go rigid for a moment. "Will you play it for me again? I just want to hear it... But you don't have to if you don't want to." she added. Allen shook his head at her with another wave of smile.

"No, it'll be my present to you." he laughed, "Do you like the song?" he asked her taking a bite out of the dessert on the small plate. Timcampy was flying about over his head like he was excited that there was so much commotion.

"Somewhat, it's a beautiful lullaby yet so solemn..." she lisped, "I want to hear it again, it has such a nostalgic sound to it."

"Then I shall play it for you tonight," he said getting up and giving her a bow like he was going to start a show soon. She giggled at his action as he pulled her out and twirled her around in a dancing motion. Riba taking notice of the two turned on the phonograph and soon the room was filled with laughter and music. It was a splendid day that she wished would never end. No one saw the tall white suited, curly haired supervisor walk in and mingle into the crowd as the others gave him a wave in forms of hellos and he waved back with a smile. In his hand was another case, another mission. He didn't want to spoil the mood of the people because it's been so long since any one of them had something to celebrate about. He wasn't too thrilled when he got the call from the Finders that were out in their stations that exorcists were needed, but it can't be helped. Everyone knew their duty the moment they hopped aboard the exorcist train that they would give up their lives for the sake of God. The crowds parted their way for Komui as he headed towards the midst of the dance as he saw Allen and Mei twirling and laughing away, the kids deserved to be happy. They were all so young to fight in this kind of war, it pained him to see his own 16 year old younger sister fight until her body screamed at her to stop. God was cruel to throw children into the fight against the Earl, Allen himself was merely 15 years old, 16 if he counted Dec 25th to be his birthday. Komui walked onto the waltzing crowd when Mei and Allen suddenly stopped when he bowed forward at them.

"Komui...?" Mei said confusedly, her small hands still in Allen's grasp as the two looked at him, she noticed the files in his hands and she smiled. She knew what he wanted to say, it was that time again.

"I'm sorry to cut the party short, but the Earl's has made his move." Komui said softly so the other's wouldn't have to hear of the troubling news, "I'm sending in the group, it's far too dangerous at this time for you guys to go alone." Mei nodded with a sweet smile, she knew this was her job, the people she needed to protect were counting on her. Allen felt her hands squeeze his as he looked at her with his liquidated almost silver eyes.

"Let's go Allen, they're calling- can't you feel it?" she said in a voice that was almost a whisper. She shook with a sort of excitement yet he sensed fear and sadness, he reached up and patted her head.

"Yeah, yeah I can." because he too, even if he didn't want to admit it- longed for the blood of the akumas to flow from his weapon.


	26. The 14th's Melody

A/N: I would've added the hearts to what the Earl's says, but fan fic apparently doesn't allow that kind of stuff to appear so keep in mind that what he says always comes out in that creepy joyous way. Review!

Chapter 26: The 14th's Melody

Rodo twirled Lero around and around until it was screeching in her hands for her to stop, that he was going to hurl if she didn't. She let her hands go and the talking umbrella flew from her to the other side of the room. She was thinking what she was going to do the next time she saw Allen! Every time she did, she just wanted to kiss him, then kill him. She wanted to taste his blood on her hands, she giggled to herself as she walked along the hallways of the Earl's headquarters. Earl-sama was mad about the destruction of the Egg, the exorcists has been smart to destroy rather than letting it fall into their hands again. It was going to take some time to remake the Egg again, so they were going back to the slow and old fashioned way of making akumas instead of mass producing them. That was to prey on the sadness of humans, her favorite game. The place was quiet, without Devit and Jasidero around it was like the noise level has been turned down. That vampire like exorcist took those two away from her, took another part of her family away. Her little hands touched the framed pictures that hung on the black walls and she sighed. She really missed those two even though half the time they acted like idiots and Skinn Bolic, his death was rather tragic.

"Rodo?" a voice called out to her and she looked ahead of her and saw a man in a tall hat in the darkness, her pink lips parted in a smile and started running forward and glomped him from afar. "Whoa, there Rodo!" he laughed.

"Tyki!" Rodo cried out with a giggle, "Where have you been?" she asked him. She hadn't seen him for some time now and she doubted that he went back digging holes again with the humans after his true Noah awakened in him. He shrugged his shoulders at her, her gold eyes looked down at him for more than just that.

"Here and there." he answered her simply and she pouted at him before getting off him and walking towards the piano room where the Earl was awaiting them. She turned to look at him over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him.

"You're no fun Tyki." she whined a bit, he just gave her a tip of hid hat before her when the two entered the main room and saw Lulubelle there with her catlike impression. She was a fair lady of pale skin and blonde hair, but when she's a Noah- she's pretty much vicious like a hissing cat. The recent events with her and the Egg has put her on edge and the Earl too. The Earl was sitting in the piano chair before the large headed baby like mechanism that held a small cube in it's forehead. Both Tyki and Rodo bowed before him before standing up again and taking their rightful positions. The Earl turned around with his usual large sardonic grin and small lenses that reflected the light, beyond those were the devil's eyes.

"Welcome my children!" he called out getting his plump figure out of the chair and onto the floor again with Lero in his hands, "It's that time again my precious! The show has finally moved forward after 700 long years, the curtain call is up, let us proceed into the prologue of the story!" he said laughing sadistically an twirled around like what Road was doing earlier.

"What is our mission this time milord." Tyki asked bowing deep, the Earl faced Tyki with several cards in his hands. The ones that looked similar to the ones that held Allen walker's name and a few others. Tyki looked at the cards with a rather bored face, "More simpletons to rid of?" he asked him.

"Oh no Tyki, these people are special- just for you!" he said happily flinging him the card. Tyki caught the flying card between his fingers and looked down at the given names. Tyki's inside seized up when he read the three names on the list, he didn't let the others know as he kept a cool facade on. This was going to be harder than he had hoped.

----

_"The ship leaves at sun rise, be ready then."_

That was the last message Komui gave them before heading out, most likely to his office. Mei looked out the window in her room and sighed, she laid sprawled on her bed with her sleeping attires on but she was nowhere near sleepy yet. She pushed herself up from the bed and scrawled her hand through her long black hair before slipping out. She opened the door of her room and walked outside into the cold building. It was dark and eerily silent, she never noticed how creepy this place looked in the dark, perhaps it was because she never actually wandered out into the dark at night. Her feet were getting cold from the marble grounds of the interior and since she was wearing shorts it was actually freezing. Mei rubbed her hands over her arms and shivered, she should've brought a jacket with her at least.

"Mei?" a soft voice echoed into the corridor, she froze in her place at the sound of her name. Goose bumps appeared over her arms and legs, dear god- has been caught already? "Mei?" the voice called out again, it sounded like a ghost to her ears. The voice was airy and soft like it had no energy left, the hairs on the back of her neck raised itself to its ends when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. Mei almost screeched from terror when another hand clasped itself against her lips that were about to scream for help. "Shhhh! Please, jesus! What are you wandering about in the dark for anyways?" now the voice sounded human and solid, a moment ago she would've thought the place haunted or something. She turned around with an angry look on her face, one that Allen recognized because Lenalee often wore it whenever they did something stupid. She punched him in the face that sent him skidding across the floor.

"Jeez! Don't you EVER do that again!" she whispered harshly at him with a scared face, Allen sat on the cold ground with a hand on his already bruising face when he smiled apologetically up at her. He was adorned in a thick black jacket and grey sweats when Mei reached down to help him up.

"I'm sorry I scared you." he said with a laugh, Mei just glowered into the corner. She and Kanda were just so amusing, though Kanda could work on his attitude a bit more. "Or were you out here to find me because of that promise I made earlier?" Mei gave him a scrutinized look before realizing what he meant. Allen motioned her to follow him, together they ran through the darkness of the large halls and came upon the science section of the building where the ark was held for study. He silently pushed open the door and Mei followed in behind with small steps, a whoosh of bitter coldness crept along her bare legs and arms. Allen noticed and gave a wry smile before taking his large sweater off and placed it over her shoulders. "You'll catch a cold like that, Lavi will be so mad at me if you were to get sick." he whispered in her ear. Allen can only imagine what Lavi'll do if he found out that he was sneaking around in the dark with Mei. Mei's face flushed a little from his generous action and nodded as Allen resumed walking through the tall mechanics of the science room. It was already in view the moment she entered the room, and like she remembered it the first day, the doors to the ark was glowing white.

"Still can't believe that this use to belong to the Earl." she murmured looking at the large doorway as Allen ascended the stairs that led up to it. He stopped before it and turned around to lend a hand to her. Mei took it gently and in another glance they were gone. Sunlight poured around her when Mei slowly opened her eyes, Allen opened the door and they were greeted with blue skies and lush greenery. The sun bathed everything in its warm light yellow tone as they walked in. "It's... daytime." she said in an awed voice.

"It seemingly always is in the ark." Allen chuckled, "I'm going to get into so much trouble if they found out I took you here." he groaned scratching his head. Mei felt bad at that moment, she was causing so much trouble for Allen who's done nothing but be supportive of her since she came. She hung her head lowly in guilt and shame. What a terrible friend she was.

"I'm sorry... I told you you didn't have to take me..." she mumbled out, Allen turned around startled at the sudden change in personality.

"No! Of course not! I made you a promise! And I'm going to keep my word, Mei." he said happily walking ahead with a laugh. This world was so much at peace that it would be nice to just stay here for a little while. The birds above her chirped freely and the tall tower in the middle hovered over the rest of the town. Mei gave it a weird look, the book she read that afternoon resurfaced and the information poured back in. She shuddered, even with Allen's sweater on, the tower gave her the creeps. "Mei! Over here!" Allen's voice called out, Mei's attention broke itself away from the building and started running towards where Allen was entering into a pair of white doors. Mei slowed down her pace when she entered the room, her eyes first of all took in the expansive whiteness of the room. A pang of guilt returned, this place reminded her so much of Sarah's room. The to-be-exorcist that she wasn't able to save. Allen was sitting by the white piano that had ebony black keys when Mei walked into the room. The feeling of nostalgia came back again as she sat on the white couch in the room, she watched his back move with every motion he made over the keys in preparation. Her eyes stationed themselves on his fingers, and ever so slowly like a pin dropping to the ground, those long slim fingers danced across the black keys and it was then she knew the lullaby started. She closed her eyes and let the peaceful music take her on an unknown journey, images of Alphonse and her friends from back home came floating back as she felt her lips smile. The notes were all so familiar, like she had heard it somewhere in the distance, in some far away dream. Mei's head moved itself to the tune of the piano as Allen continued to play, somewhere soon the chorus was about to be revealed when suddenly the memory of her mother and father holding her small hands flashed through her head. They were at a circus... Yes, a circus. That's where she heard this song before, she heard _that_ man in that funny suit sing it once while he was cleaning out the animal pen. The music dropped and collected itself back up when her lips began moving to her memory of that man.

"_I shall continue to pray. Plese, give this child love, joined hands, and a kiss._" the sound suddenly stopped when her eyes flew open. Allen sat frozen in his chair with his finger splayed over the top. Mei stood up slowly and went over to Allen's side. "Allen... You okay Allen..?" she asked worriedly, he was breathing hard when she bent down to look at him. She gasped and stepped back, his cursed left eye has turned black and red and has crawled itself to almost half his face. He covered it with his hands and stood away from her, almost like he was disgusted with himself.

"I'm sorry..." he apologized through gritted teeth, his eye has never acted like this to the song before. He was surprised, no one was suppose to know the words except him and Mana! So then... How did Mei come to know of the words. "How'd you know the words to the song?" he asked her with a scared expression. Mei furrowed her brows and frowned before looking down to the white floor.

"I... I..." she stammered looking for an excuse of some sort.

"Mei!"

"I don't know! It was _that _man okay! That man was singing it that day at the traveling circus! I was so young back then, I didn't know I would still remember. It was only that verse that I remember, the rest is all but haze." she explained hastily. A circus? Allen eyes went wide for a moment, Mana was a traveling clown when he found him and took him in in London. "I didn't mean to step on any toes, it's just the song brings back good memories..." she said leaning against the piano with her fingers gliding themselves on the smooth keys.

"You're not afraid of the eye?" he asked slowly, she looked at him strangely and shook her head. Allen felt a surge of relief and kindness travel from Mei to him, making the room come alive with warm feelings.

"Why would I be, I've seen much stranger things than that." she pointed out with a shrug, Allen chuckled again before moving back towards the white piano.

"Do you want to hear it again?" he questioned lightly giving her a soft smile, she glanced up at him and grinned while nodding.

"Only if you sing it." she replied lightly, Allen grinned lightly and sat back down with Mei next to him listening to the words that flowed from his lips. That night, in the dreams of others in the Order, the soft melody of the 14th could be heard gliding gently through the stars in the dark night sky.


	27. To Where a New Journey Starts

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews so far my faithful readers! I really am touched~! Disclaimer once again: I don't own D Gray-man or any of the characters that's in it. Though I do own Mei and Al. :) And also that info about the Babylonian tower is from Wiki.

Chapter 27: To Where A New Journey Starts

"_And then the boy drifted off to sleep_

_breathing heavy... The flames_

_within the ash, one by one _

_welling up, that beloved face_

_Thousands of dreams upon the earth_

_as your silver eyes tremble on_

_that night, a shining 'you' is born_

_Hundreds of millions of months and years_

_no matter how many prayers_

_are returned to the earth_

_I shall continue to pray_

_please, give this child love_

_joined hands, and a kiss._"

"I've always thought of it to be a poem you know?" he said in a soft voice looking up at the stars, "Yet, whenever I play it, the melody just happens to be in my head. Like someone else singing it in my mind." Mei looked down at the white haired 15 year old and stroked his bangs away from his face to get a clear view of his liquid silver eyes that shone mysteriously under the moonlight. His hair tickled her lap, but she didn't mind, it was so soft that it was almost like a baby sheep's fur. They had long since exited the ark and was now star gazing outside on one of the stone ledges of the building. Mei had a blanket wrapped around her as the two stared up at the sky, the star light twinkled like a pathway across the sky.

"Does it scare you?" she asked softly. Allen closed his eyes, and let his mind wander far into the distance of the night sounds around him.

"It did, but since then I've gotten use to... Just like that man I see everyday in the mirror..." he muttered. Mei looked at him quizzically, a man in the mirror? Who was he talking about? "It's nothing," he interjected when he noticed the look on her face. The two being so close was providing them with heat that kept her warm as she thought about the words that she heard him sing with the melody of the piano earlier.

"Hey, have you ever wondered who the boy is in the lyrics?" she asked him, Allen shook his head, "...As your silver eyes tremble on that night, a shining 'you' is born..." she repeated the song in her mind and outwardly said it out loud.

"There's too much to think about... Makes me head hurt, with General Cross gone, it's like something went missing." Allen sighed, Mei could only imagine what it's like for Allen. He was so young and already, he's seen so much that she can't possibly comprehend what he was feeling. She wasn't here for the tragic event of headquarters being attacked and she wasn't here to witness Lenalee's accident with her Innocence. She just wouldn't understand what Allen has gone through. Her eyes darted back to the dark skies and sighed.

"What's your master like Allen?" she asked suddenly, she looked at him to see his face deathly pale and his eyes were frozen pools of silver ice. "Well, uh, erm, you don't have to answer me if it troubles you that much." she said quickly, the reaction seems like he was remembering something awful from the past. "He was that bad?" she mouthed out, he only gave her a slight nod before turning his face outwards with his hands covering his face in shame.

"Ahh..h..hh. The memories from back then... The debts, the DEBTS!" he cried out softly, Mei patted his head to comfort the poor child._ 'What kind of life did he live?!' _her thoughts flew around with assumptions of beatings and child labor. She's heard of rumors about the legendary General Cross who liked to use people to his advantage, yet he was the only exorcist that wielded two anti-akuma weapons. He was a man of expensive taste apparently and one that hated to follow up on the Order's rules, disappearing and what not. Renee had had her tracing his whereabouts for about two months until she had completely lost sight of him. That was about as close as she got to Marian Cross, that womanizing general! Allen shifted back with a dreaded look on his face, she was sorry that she even asked.

"Mei... During that party in the evening, you came in crying with Lavi following behind with an angry look. Do you mind me asking what happened?" he brought up from the midst of their conversation. Mei stiffened at his question, Lavi had seen Alphonse kiss her... That's what happened and she felt strangely felt guilty for it.

"You saw..." she stated forlornly, he gave her a wry frown and nodded, "It's really nothing, Lavi was just being Lavi, you know?" she laughed, but even she could tell that Allen could hear the farce that she was saying. Allen got up from her lap and sat upright next to her with a worried grimace.

"He didn't say anything to hurt you did he? He sometimes... has a tendency to say things too abruptly." he said hastily. Mei shook her head, her eyes off into the distance of the bushes below them with a weird face on. When she finally looked up Allen was surprised to see her brows knitted together with watery eyes and a hard frown.

"I think... I had hurt him more Allen." she told him frighteningly, "I think I really made him mad this time, the look that he gave me... It was like I shattered his world or something. I don't know what to do." Allen looked at the shaking girl who was bundled up in blankets, she wasn't crying, but worried for that Lavi was angry at her for something she did. He touched her hand a little and Mei raised her head at him with worrisome dark brown eyes.

"I'm sure he's not mad at you," he reassured her. Mei continued to shake her head furiously as if trying to throw away some of her thoughts.

"I didn't know...! I didn't know that Lavi was there when Al kissed me like that! I didn't know it was going to happen like that!" she whimpered, Allen's eyes went big at her sudden confession of what happened. His assumption was way off from what really happened, he scratched his head and looked away. _'Dammit, Lavi can't resist himself when those two are alone! Always sneaking around them...' _he bit his lower lip before turning around with a smile.

"It's almost morning, you must be tired. We should get some sleep, we still have a mission later, don't think about it too much okay?" he asked her as the two slipped of the cold stone ledge and made their way down the corridor. He saw her off to her room, but just as he was about to turn she took his hand. Allen turned around, Mei gave him a warm smile before leaning in to give him a hug.

"I shall continue to pray, please give this child love," she muttered gently into his ear, she pulled back and looked up at his surprised face and laughed as her small hands took his again, "... Joined hands, and a kiss." she finished, just then in that momentarily lapse of silence she stood on her toes and placed a kiss on his head before turning around and opening her door to her room. She entered and at the crack of her door she whispered, "Goodnight Allen Walker, the child of silver eyes."

----

It wasn't like he intended to stay so long in the library with them, just that he felt insecure when Mei was with another guy. Alone. In the cramped spaces of the library. He hadn't intended to spy on them or anything for that long, he just couldn't stand the very idea of her being accompanied by that man. Though he has to say, it was more informational than he would've originally thought, the ark being a rebuilt model of the legendary Tower of Babylon. Lavi's thoughts at the moment weren't on that topic it was more on the fact that Al had _kissed _Mei like that! It was infuriating! That moment where he had leaned in to kiss her soft pink lips and Mei not doing anything about it made his heart stop. He still remembers that very instant he felt like he couldn't breathe, couldn't move, it was like God was punishing him by making him immobile to leave that spot. It had hurt, a lot, so much that he couldn't comprehend the pain that was tearing across his mind. Why it hurt that much, he wasn't too sure- but he had an idea. It was those taboo feelings that was starting to develop inside him that was making everything she does so important.

"No..." he muttered into his pillow as he clutched his blankets, his eye shut themselves against the darkness of his room, "No!" he muttered again. He can't fall in love with her, not Mei, never- the world of the Bookman wasn't meant for a girl finally so happy. He would rather fall into a pit of darkness for eternity by himself than to drag her with him. He shuffled the blankets on top of him as he turned to face the ceiling with an arm over his head when the melody drifted into his head. He recognized it as the song Allen had played in the ark when it was collapsing, the song that had revived the ship and their lives. He sat up and looked around him trying to figure out where it was coming from. It wasn't like it was from a specific point, in fact it was all around him. Somebody was in the ark right now! The piano notes floated airily around him when the words started to echo in, that voice...! It wasn't the same girl voice that he heard in the ark, this time it was a mixture of a boy and a girl singing. The song wound around him like a lullaby when his eyes started to droop sleepily, it was like his whole body was intoxicated by that song. Lavi tried to fight against the sleep that was overcoming him, but the power was too strong when his eyes finally closed and his mind being gently rocked by the song of the 14th.

----

It was still dark when Tiki came flying from his spot to wake Mei up from her deep slumber, she switched position in her bed before getting up and rubbing her eyes. She looked at Tiki tiredly when it sounded for her to get up and change. Mei dragged herself up and made a grab for her clothes and exited her room and into the dawn washed hallway. The sun wasn't up yet, but the sky was turning different hues of purple and pink and Mei stood there fascinated at it when she heard other footsteps from her left. When she turned her head, her heart jumped from her chest to her throat. Lavi stood there in a black undershirt and his uniformed black and white pants with his small mallet hanging from his leg holder. It was a few seconds later that Allen walked out of his room at the other end and came by with a smile when he felt the heavy tension in the air, it was so thick it was actually hard to breathe.

"Morning." Lavi said stiffly, Allen looked across to Mei whom was still clad in her pajamas nodded a little to his acknowledgment before turning around to run towards the girls' bathroom. Lavi sighed and ruffled his still messy morning hair before heading off towards the other side of the hallway to the guys' bathroom with Allen following behind. They didn't say anything about the encounter until they reached the sanctity of the mens' bathroom where secrets could be told in secrecy.

"I told you not to go." he warned him, Lavi didn't say anything. He continued on to go on with his business in the morning in complete silence, he didn't even bother retorting back with Bookman senior when he called Lavi an a buffoon. Bookman was actually baffled by his grandson's reactions when he noticed the stiff air consume the hallway when the new exorcist he'd met several months before exited the women's bathroom with Lenalee. His face darkened a bit, Lavi should know the consequences of breaking the first rule of the Bookman Clan and what would happen to her if he did. It seems like it's time for him to remind his grandson where his place is.

It was strangely quiet in the hallways even if it was too early for the others to get up. The deadly quietness provoked Lenalee to say something, but she didn't know what was wrong with the girl that was walking next to her was. Bookman, Lavi and Allen came from the other side of the building when Lenalee got an inkling feeling that the awkwardness was going to get worse. They all had a small suitcase in hand with their belongings when they gathered at the underground port where they would be departing. By the time they had reached the boat they saw that Kanda had already arrived with Krory next to him on the boat.

"Che. Do I have to wait all day for you slackers?" Kanda muttered under his breathe, Lavi rolled his eyes slightly at the comment and Allen bit down on his tongue to contain his will to destroy Kanda. Komui's footsteps echoed from the entrance of the underground port when his white suited form appeared before them with files in hand. He gave one to Lenalee and one to Bookman.

"You'll be going as a group of 4 this time, Lenalee with Allen, Kanda, and Link. Lavi with Mei, Krory, and Bookman. Allen, your group will be going to Alexandrov in Vladimir Oblast, Russia and Mei's group will be going to Frankfurt, Germany." Komui stated seriously when Allen and Mei's face fell from hearing their group partners. Allen pointed at Kanda with a twitching smile and Mei was stuttering incomprehensibly.

"Why do I have to go with that egotistical, samurai, sword swinging brute again?!" Allen sounded angrily, Mei's own finger pointed at the tall red head.

"Why me and Lavi?!" she asked, Lavi gave her a hurt look when Mei's face flushed deeply from his stare, "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but he's quite... quite...." she was searching for a word when he leaned in with a grin on his lips.

"Quite what?" he insisted giving her shoulder a prod, she huffed at him before stepping back from him. He was getting way too close for comfort as she folded her arms across her chest and stared him down.

"_Distracting_." She finished angrily at him, he gave her a small sigh before leaning back on the wall with a blank expression on his face. Mei looked away, Kanda at this time was trying to get to Allen whom was also trying to take a swing at the black haired teen.

"What you say moyashi?! I dare you to say that again! I'll chop off all that white hair before you can even say 'Timcanpy'!" he growled frustratingly at him.

"EY! Don't bring Timcanpy into this you baka! That's right I said that you're just a EGOTISTICAL, SAMURAI WANNABE, SWORD SWINGING BRUTE!" he yelled back with Link holding him back and Krory at Kanda. Timcanpy was hiding inside Allen's black and red uniform pocket as the two continued their shouting match so early in the morning.

"Jeez guys, don't you think this is enough?" Lavi tried as he approached when both Allen and Kanda looked at him like they were going to kill him if he interfered. "Okay. Sorry." Lenalee sighed when she walked over and slapped both of their heads with her file, the two stopped suddenly and looked at her.

"It is TOO early in the morning to be arguing so heatedly, have you forgotten that we all have a mission to fulfill?" she scolded the two. Komui smiled thankfully at her on getting their attention back, seemingly he never seems to have enough power to overcome the scary Kanda and the some what 'evil' side of Allen.

"You guys must be careful out there, right now Russia and Germany are amongst themselves in war. It's the perfect time for the Earl to create more akumas from mourners of soldiers. Frankfurt and Alexandrov at the moment have strange increases in akuma activity and I'm afraid that the Earl has made it's move towards large cities like Frankfurt. They've already have Manchester here in England and the whole of Japan, we can't lose anymore to them." Koumi explained to the group in front of him, he turned towards Mei and Lavi. "The Prussian king of Germany must be protected from anymore onslaught, he's being targeted by the akumas it seems. They want the throne, if they get it, Frankfurt is done for. So keep in mind your main goal is to protect the king." he then turned to Allen and the others, "King Alexander II has been notified of your presence so you won't be seeing any interferences. There's a lead as to the disappearance of Marian Cross there, I need you to find it all the while search for the reason as to why there's so many akumas there." Hearing his old master's name had Allen shocked as he stood there, there's a possibility that his master is still alive? Impossible... His Innocence doesn't even recognize him as its master anymore, so how can it be? He felt someone take his hand when he looked over and Lenalee gave him a warm smile to tell him that every thing's going to be okay. Was it really okay to search for his master when Link was so close by that he could stop this whole mission if he wanted to? Every thing seemed so surreal to him at the moment when he heard the boat whistle for their attention. Lenalee was already running forth to get on when she turned around and waved to Komui with a smile.

"We're off, brother!" she called out with Allen waving from behind with the same smile on his lips as Lenalee's. They watched Komui wave back with a silly grin on his face and that same cup of coffee his has everyday.

"See you later!" he called out towards the disappearing boat, and just behind them the sun was rising from the sea; spilling it's warm colors across the tranquil waters as if it was telling him that they'd come back safe and sound.


	28. Adelaide's Inn

A/N: Review!

Chapter 28: Adelaide's Inn

She stood there by the rails that separated her from the sea, her dark hair was billowing in the wind like some kind of dark veil covering up the stars at night. Her back stood towards him with her face facing the ocean, she hadn't spoken to him since that incident from last night. Everyone could see that the two were fighting, but for what reasons they didn't know except for Allen. At this point he didn't know what to do with the two since he himself don't know much on the topic of 'teen love'. He could only stand there and watch the two deal it out among themselves instead of having a third party interfere with their issues. The boat roared through the waves of the dark blue sea, and the sky broke into different colors of orange mixed with purple and pink. The way she stood there, it was like she came from a romanticized painting from the Renaissance. No one said anything, preferably what Kanda likes, but it was too silent for everyone else. Lavi fingered the edge of the envelope that was in his pocket, the letter that Alphonse wanted him to give to her was there. He said give it to her in the morning, he looked up to the sky and bit his lips. It was still early, he could give it to her later, there's still time.

The boat docked at the London port as they got off the small tugboat when they were greeted by two Finders. They introduced themselves as Theodore Ruse and Randolph Luther, Theodore had these soft brown eyes that sparkled softly in the sunlight and short sandy hair that scattered themselves on his head. He was an average sized man that seemed to be in his early thirties whereas Randolph was a big burly man that had a short buzz cut. Even with the size, Randolph seemed like a gentle person. They shook hands and exchanged names, Theodore was to accompany Lavi and Mei while Randolph was to guide Kanda and his group. They departed at the London market, Lenalee took one last look over her shoulder and wondered if those two were going to be okay.

Mei shielded her arm from the radiating sun that has some how along the time that they left headquarters to London, crawled out into the sapphire blue sky. Her nose caught a whiff of something delicious as her head turned to an old lady making England's most famous fish n` chips. It consisted of deep fried fish and potatoes, she watched entranced by the delectable aroma waft off from the fish that she was frying in an open stove. The old lady noticed her stare and smiled up at her, Mei blushed slightly from being caught as the old lady picked up the fish and put it on top of the potato chips and handed it to her. Mei shook her head embarrassingly and declined the offer, but the lady insisted that she took it. Krory walked over when he saw Mei at the fish n` chip stand, his pale face smiled down at her as he ruffled some money out of his pocket.

"Did you want to buy some Mei?" he asked her, he handed the lady the money but the lady shook her head with another gentle smile. Mei couldn't stop this problem from getting out of hand, she did want it, but she was too embarrassed to take it from an old lady. "Oh, but we insist on paying for it Mrs. it's the least we can do." Krory said politely.

"You children have done so much for us mere humans already, it's on the house. You can say, it's a little thank you gift for always protecting us, young exorcists." she said brightly, Mei stared at the old lady and wanted to cry. It was such a touching gesture that she was really warmed up by it, she finally took the dish and walked away with a wave to the old lady.

"She was nice," Krory said with a half-smile, Mei nodded beside him, "Almost like Eliade." he mumbled at the end. Mei patted his board shoulder and handed him the box of fish and chips, it was greasy and kind of fattening but it was so delicious! Krory took a piece of the fish and nibbled it in his mouth all the while his eyes darted left and right at random objects that looked interesting. Mei realized that Krory had a tendency to be fooled as she had to pull him away from 6 different sellers that were offering expensive, yet fake, items to be sold. She shook his head at him and had to scold him twice about being lured into traps set by those cheaters who cheat people of money. He had hung his head at her in a dejected mood as she patted his head like some small child being consoled by a mother. Mei could see the market getting themselves ready for the morning shift as they made their way down following behind the backs of Theodore and the others. She's never been to an open market of his size before as she found herself being drawn to little trinkets that were being sold at other stands. With the oily box of food still in her hand she walked towards another binder when her eyes caught something. It was a small doll linked to a piece of thick string, the doll had long dark red hair that was flying in ever direction possible and a grinning face. Lavi's face flashed before her eyes, she frowned a little, of all times to see his face it had to be now. She placed the doll back in its place before picking up a jewel in her hand to examine it. Somehow her eyes constantly looked back towards the small doll that was lying there with its grinning face. She finally gave up and purchased the doll from the little girl and stalked away. Krory and Mei wandered a bit more before running up to catch up to the rest of them that were asking people around about info pertaining to their mission. Lavi looked up from his interrogation as his gramps continued and noticed a laughing Mei walking by Krory, the two finally caught up with them when Lavi sighed.

"It's about time you two." he said with a fatherly tone, Mei gave him a frown and looked away as Krory just pouted.

"What are you? Our father?" she grumbled. She was still mad at him, he knew she had every right to be angry, but it was harder than he had thought to keep her away. All he wanted was for them to go back to the way things were before all the arguing and all the fights. He noticed her face was dabbed with oil as if she had been eating or something when he pulled a small towel from the pack and walked over to Mei who was still trying to ignore him. "Jeez, what are _**you**_? 3?" he muttered under his breath wiping away the oil on her face. Mei didn't know that she had left such a mess on her face when she saw him approach her with a towel in hand, he leaned down and starting scrubbing away on her face. She saw that he was trying hard not to look at her and only concentrate on his 'cleaning duty' when she felt the heat rise from her cheeks. He was seriously rubbing too hard that her face was chaffing.

"Lavi..." she stated, but it was like he didn't hear her, "Lavi...! Lavi, okay stop!" she said taking his hand in hers when his green eyes looked at her with a startled look, "It's clean, you keep rubbing like that my face's going to fall off." she told him with a wry smile before letting his hand go, "Thanks." she muttered shyly before walking off towards the front where Theodore stood. Lavi just smiled brightly, at least she was somewhat talking to him. It was better than nothing. They finished off from the market and headed towards the train station that would take them to the other end of London and from there they would travel to England's borders to take a ship to Germany.

----

He groaned and Krory's stomach was being damn annoying, Mei could only stare at the two who were lying on the ground dead from exhaustion and hunger with a tired expression. Her own stomach was empty and was running on what was left of her calories from her lunch on the ship earlier in the day. It's been 8 days and they had finally made it to Germany, Theodore seemed fine like he was use to these kinds of things. Bookman was better off than the kids, plus he wasn't exactly a growing kid anymore. It was harder on Mei and Krory than anybody else since they're both parasitic type Innocence holders and parasitic types tend to use up more energy than most exorcists so they consume a lot more than usual, Allen was a good example. Mei stumbled forth a little when someone caught her arm, she looked up and saw Theodore smile at her.

"I'm sorry exorcist-sama, there's a town up ahead. We'll get some food there and restock on our supplies." he told her, he was truly sorry that the exorcists were so spent on his behalf that their trip was delayed in so they ran out of rations a few hours back. The girl using him as a support just smiled before standing up right again and laughed.

"It's okay, really. It's not your fault Theo." she said with a wave before taking a breath and continued walking forth. Theodore looked back at the two boys on the road and pointed with a worried look on his face.

"Are you sure _they're_ going to be okay...?" he asked, Mei turned around and laughed again, a laugh that seemed to be filled with malevolence. Her face was a crawling with a happy smile that had murder intent behind it.

"Of course they're going to be alright. They're exorcists, they've been through worse!" she stated happily with a fisted hand, "If they can't even handle a little hunger, who needs exorcists like that? I mean look at Bookman, that man's 88 and still kicking!" she said turning around with another loud laugh. She was definitely scary when she's hungry and irritated, Theodore shuddered at the possible thoughts of what she can do and left it at that before resuming his walk. Lavi looked up haggardly with a glare, that girl... That girl was going to get it when she least expects it! Krory and Lavi crawled the rest of the way up the hill when their eyes brimmed with tears as the town appeared in the horizon. Soon! Soon there would be food and drinks!

They entered the square of the small town as Theodore went around getting food from one vendor and water from the next as they restocked in supplies. Lavi and Krory was already stuffing their faces with whatever food they could get their hands on as Mei helped Bookman and Theodore out with the supplies.

"We're going to stay here for the night, we should be at Frankfurt by tomorrow afternoon." Theodore stated firmly as he stuffed some bread into the pack, "I've asked around and it seems Adelaide's is the best inn in town. It's not far off, just the end of this market." he continued with a pointed finger. After restocking their food source they walked the rest of the way down and found themselves in front of a sign that read Adelaide's in German that was swinging by a large door. They opened it and found themselves in a rambunctious bar that was filled with men of all sorts that were speaking German in a rough manner. It had a heavy smell of beer and food all around as laughter rang out in the afternoon sun, Mei could only smile at the men that were letting loose for lunch. They walked around them and fought their way to the counter when a blonde hair maiden came walking out with shocking blue eyes, her face was dotted with cute freckles when she saw them she smiled that charming smile of hers. Suddenly from Mei's right side someone yelled out a loud 'STRIKE' when Mei turned around to see a drooling Lavi with hearts for eyes ogling at the blonde girl. She giggled at Lavi's reaction before extending a hand to them in greeting.

"I'm Lieselotte, you must be the exorcists that works for the Pope." she greeted with a nod, "We've heard much about you." her English was filled with a heavy German accent, but over all they were amazed that someone from a small town like this knew so much. Lavi rushed over and gave her a wink before taking her hand in his.

"Lieselotte hmm? It's a cute name, I'm Lavi by the way." he said with a sly grin. Mei felt the surge of jealousy rise from nowhere when her hands acted on their own will and pushed Lieselotte's hand away from Lavi's in one swift motion. Mei, too shocked from what just happened stared at the surprised couple before her with a gaping mouth. "Mei?" Lavi's voice woke her from the shock, she blinked several times before turning around and walking away.

"I'm going to the room." she blurted out and made a run for it upstairs, Theodore looked at girl running up the wooden stairs and back at Bookman.

"We didn't even get the keys yet..."

x x x

Mei didn't know where she ran off to, but it was somewhere upstairs and surprisingly it was pretty big compared to most inns she's been to. There was rows of rooms that went down the hall for some time before making a turn to the other side of the building. Mei took a deep breath, she has no idea what just happened down there, it was like her hand acted on its own accord and slapped away Lieselotte's hand from Lavi. From Lavi... Her face suddenly felt hot as burning iron, why did it bother her so much that he was interested in another woman? She shouldn't be! No! She refuses to believe that she's somewhat attracted to Lavi! Her head was flying off her neck when she heard a voice coming from the one of the rooms. She looked up quizzically and tilted her head for the sound, she followed the voice when her feet took her to a partially opened door. Her hands reached for it when she heard weeping from inside, her hand stopped midway when and she stood there. It was the same, the sound, the call for that loved one, it was all the same...

"_Remembering your parents' funeral eh?_' a voice echoed in her head, Mei looked up startled when she realized that she wasn't at the inn anymore. It was pitch dark where she was, "_Alone again are we?_" the voice was kinda of creepy, she's heard of his voice before. She just couldn't pinpoint when though. "_I guess a child like you will always be alone in this world...!_" it laughed and Mei shivered with her eyes shut.

"Exorcist-sama?' Theodore's voice interrupted her thoughts, she looked up and saw the the Finder standing by the stairs with keys in hand. She was back at the inn again. "Your room key, lucky you're a girl. You get your own room." he mused tossing her the bronze metal, Mei grabbed it and looked over shoulder. The weeping sound is gone...


	29. A Night Washed in Alcohol

A/N: Gasp! Chapter 29 is up and yes, it is the chapter where a bit of alcohol is used so be wary of what might happen and no, it's not going to progress that far until I've made up my mind... I think they're still too young to be thinking that far, but I'm not sure yet~ Okay, enjoy and review!

Chapter 29: A Night Washed in Alcohol

"Do you own this place Lieselotte?" Bookman asked taking a sip of the tea that was provided for them. Lieselotte poured another cup for Theodore and shook her head, she placed the towel back into her apron and walked back to the counter bar. Her eyes went gentle for a second as she looked out the window of the empty inn, the afternoon rush was finally done and now it's much quieter to talk.

"No, my mother owns this inn... With papa that is. Except since papa died of sickness last year, mother hasn't been herself since then. You see, mother and papa loved each other very much and when he died it was like half her world was destroyed... I took charge of the inn, keeping it clean and all so when mother gets better, she can see that I've been taking care of this place for her." she said lightly into the air, she brushed back her hair and tied it into a ponytail before setting to work on cleaning the tables. "Will the other two exorcists be coming down for tea?" she asked with a smile. Bookman shook his head, Krory was out exploring the town and Lavi was asleep and it'll be that way until dinner time. Mei was in the room probably reading or doing something since none of them has heard from her since the incident between Lieselotte, Lavi, and Mei. Lieselotte touched her cheek with a hand and looked at the stairs with a worried glance, "I feel like I did something wrong... When that boy with flirting it seemed the girl got jealous, are they together?" she asked, Theodore spat out some of the tea in surprise and looked credulously at Lieselotte then at Bookman who didn't say anything to the question. He just drank his tea in silence, Lieselotte nodded and got the memo.

All the while Mei was sitting in the room holding onto the doll that she bought earlier at the market in London and stared at it. She crushed it between her fingers a little before throwing it against the wall and curling herself into a ball on the bed. She was so confused with her own feelings right now, she didn't know what to do with them. She wanted to cry, yet at the same time she wanted to throw Lavi out the window of this two story inn. She sat there contemplating about what she would do when she raised her head and realized that it was dark outside, the sun had set and the sky was dark blue and orange. The noise level beneath her feet was getting louder and louder by the second, Mei slipped out of bed and opened her door. Before she went out she looked back at where the fallen doll was and picked it up, dusted it and placed it gently in her pocket. The noise literally blew her away as it was 10 times as loud as it was in the afternoon. Mei had taken her uniform off and was in a fitted beige shirt with a white skirt and black boots. She descended the stairs to the dining area only to be met up with a shocking image, her jaw dropped themselves to the ground as her eyes bulged out of its sockets. There stood Lavi drunk as hell with a cup still in hand singing and dancing with other huge German men, his face was lighted with a goofy smile and his eyes were sparkling like he was having the time of his life. The picture itself was ridiculous, so ridiculous that Mei burst out laughing. Some other men took notice of a petite dark haired teen and grinned as they pulled her onto their lap. Mei was suddenly pulled away by some brute and was forcibly enjoined in their sining and dancing. She scanned the room for signs of the others when she spotted Krory on the floor with really red cheeks, so he was intolerant to alcohol. She wasn't able to find Bookman and Theodore, she feared that someone might've stampeded on the small old man when she caught the tip of his hair bobbing at the other end of the room. Mei gave herself a smile to blend into the crowd, Lieselotte was busy serving food and drinks around with a flushed, but happy expression on her face. She couldn't believe they were here getting drunk instead of working on the mission even though on most part there was no possible way for them to move on without rest for the night. Mei just sighed and shook her head, there was a loud thump when Mei saw a lump on the ground as a roar went up and the music continued. She slipped off of the man's seat and moved forward to see the red head completely out on the ground. Mei placed both her hands on her hips and glared at him from up top.

"It's best if you take him upstairs to his room before these men makes him into a sandwich!" Lieselotte cautioned her with a tray full of what seems like chicken and more beer. What a joyful night this place is Mei thought with a roll of her eyes. Mei wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled his arm around her shoulder as she heaved him up from the ground. He was so much heavier than she had thought, dead weight was seriously something of a burden. Mei dragged him across the eating place and up the stairs when he began to stir, his hair was a mess and his headband was wrapped around his neck. They tumbled against the walls as his whole weight crushed against her knocking the air out of her for a moment.

"Lavi... You're going to have to help me a little if we're going to get to your room." she insisted with a frown, Lavi opened his eye wearily and smiled at her with the smile he'd usually give to the science department when they find something interesting in Komui's cabinet and his face was flushed. "Don't give me that look." They were almost at the top of the stairs, just a few more.

"Hnn.." he groaned out as his leg hit another step of the stairs, "I thought Hic- zatttt... yous wasss...Hic- was madded at me..." he said with a slurred language that Mei really had to listen hard to what he was saying in order for her to understand.

"I still am, but I can't leave you out there to die upon the foot of burly men you baka!" she retorted lightly as they stepped over the last step and Mei heaved a sigh. "We still have a mission to do, so you can't die just yet." They stumbled across the dark hallway together and finally made it to his room. Mei opened the door with her other free hand and let herself in with the drunken 18 year old in her arms. She gently closed the door behind her with her foot so they wouldn't be disturbing anyone else that might be sleeping at the moment though most likely that would be impossible from the level of noise that was being made downstairs. Lavi started laughing a little while she tried to get him into bed when he twisted under her touch.

"I'm hic- ticklish!" he giggled like a little girl, he swayed and danced across the room. Mei felt like pulling out her hair, he was immature enough when he was sober! "La la la la!" he sang out at the top of his voice. She pulled him back by the edge of his shirt, but without his coordination the force of her pull was too much as Lavi's body slammed into hers against the wall. His breath tingled slightly on her skin and his body radiated unknown warmth between the two. She felt her own heartbeat accelerate at the closeness of her and Lavi who was now standing centimeters away from her. Her stomach suddenly knotted up in anxiousness and the flutter of butterflies erupted inside of her. His face brushed itself against hers when she felt herself let out a sigh at the touch of his fingers. He let himself be taken away by her exotic aroma as he snaked himself up her neck and gently stroked her cheek with his hand.

"You know... hic- You smell very niceeeee." he slurred his drunken words at her. Just when she thought she was about to lose it she came back to her senses and took his hand in hers in an abrupt movement.

"Stop." she said hesitantly, but firm. He looked almost hurt that she was stopping such an intense moment between them. "You shouldn't have drank, you're underage!" she tried with a desperate tone of voice. He suddenly slammed his hands against the walls above her making her cringe in fright, Mei gulped hesitantly when she looked up at his fierce emerald eye.

"Damn it Mei, hic- what do you hic- want from me?" he asked her roughly, his red hair fell across his face like a translucent curtain as the two stared at each other in the dark. "First you're all pissed and shit with me and then you go and slap Lieselotte like that... What the hell is going on in that head of yours?" Mei heaved in heavy breaths and looked away, he wasn't the kind, funny guy that she knew, this was the intoxicated version of him. His usual smell of boy shampoo and books was covered in the overwhelming aroma of alcohol. He reeked of the stuff, and to say he was underage too.

"It's your fault that I'm angry at you! You said some really awful stuff you know." she retorted against him angrily, she tried to force herself out only to have him push her harder against the wall with his body.

"I tried apologizing, but you won't even look at me." Mei looked over his board shoulders and sighed raggedly. "I really tried..." he muttered, "So I'm sorry Mei, for all the dumb shit I said to you. I was so jealous that it just sort of came out." Mei stopped wiggling from his grip at his last statement. So he _was_ jealous of her and Al's relationship, that's why he was sulking like a baby whenever he saw him with her. She lowered her head so that her forehead was touching his shoulder and stared at the ground. It wasn't like she had been the best person around Lavi with all the things going on between her and Al. He had the rights to be equally as mad at her as she did with him.

"I'm sorry too." she murmured, "Even though what I said was true, you're a kid, and always will be... But that's the way I like Lavi." she whispered lightly in the end. The envelope that was hidden in his pants pocket slipped out and fell to the floor when Mei's eyes caught the piece of paper on the floor. "What's this?" she asked stooping to the ground, Lavi looked down and bit his lips. He reached over her and made a grab for it before she could get it. "Hey!" she cried out, he gave he a grin and stuffed the paper back in his pocket. He stumbled from his lack of coordination from all the beer he'd consume when his hand made a grab for her arm for support. Only too bad she couldn't hold onto his whole weight and fell with him when he pulled. There was a loud thump and a groan from the bed, Mei felt a heavy weight on her when she opened her eyes to see Lavi staring from up top drowsily with a flushed face. In another second he slumped forward on her with exhaustion and fell asleep. Mei felt the heat rise up from her heaving chest to her cheeks, he was too close... Much too close that her own body was reacting weirdly. Mei took in a deep breath and exhaled tiredly, she slumped her head back onto the pillow and laid there like that for several minutes. Her head turned and looked at the sleeping face, she felt a small smile creep itself up to her lips when her hand reached up and brushed away some hair so she could see his face better. He looked so peaceful when he sleeps, if only he was like that more often instead of always trying so hard to be perky then he wouldn't constantly be fighting the one question she knew was bothering him: whether is was truly happy or not. She leaned in closer and gave him a kiss on his forehead, "Goodnight Lavi." she murmured.

Mei was trying to shift herself away from him when she saw the letter that he didn't want her to see sticking up from his pocket. It was her first instinct to reach for it, she slowly took the crinkled envelope out and straightened it out. There was a noticeable handwriting on the front when Mei lifted it towards the moonlight that was washing in. Her eyes went wide for a moment before looking back at the sleeping figure on top of her. It was a letter from Alphonse, the name on the envelope had her name on it. Why in the world did he have a letter for her from Alphonse? She didn't get to ponder it very far when she heard him groan and shift making himself even more comfortable on top of her like some hug pillow. During the slight movements his shirt raised itself so that his midriff was revealed in the moonlight. Mei had to clasp her hands over her mouth to stop herself from gasping too loud, there within the realm of light she saw the scar on his body. It was a burn scar, and from what she can see, it was bigger than what she was seeing at the moment. She reached out and touched it lightly and a set of rigid dry sobs came to her.

"It's not like it hurt." his voice mumbled out, she looked back at him. Lavi's eyes were still closed, but conscious of what was going on around him. He had felt her touch against his skin and he had heard her cries.

"It was from that time wasn't it?" she asked softly referring back to the rescue mission that ended in much injury.

"It's not, forget about it." he cut her off lightly in his still sleeping form, he didn't want to talk about something that would bring up strained memories.

"How big..." she demanded with her hair covering her eyes, her hand was shaking and Lavi knew that she was going to freak if he told her the truth.

"Not that big." he lied lightly with a sigh, he opened his eyes and looked at her. His head hurt from a headache as he winced lightly, it was only going to get worse in the morning. His hands went through his hair once then twice when she didn't answer him. He didn't want her to remember the incident where he had nearly lost her to the Noahs that time, _that _close in not being able to save her.

"Stop lying to me, I know it's my fault so at least have the heart to tell me the truth." she said through gritted teeth. She was right, it was far bigger than he had said it was, in fact the burn scar went down his whole left side of the body. He felt her fingers touch his shoulder then down his ribcage when he made a grab for her hand.

"Don't touch erotic places you perv." he said with a smirk, but she wasn't laughing at him. He looked at her and shrunk back, she was deadly serious about his.

"For once, can't we be serious?" she asked him softly, the two became quiet again with Lavi looking at the brown ceiling and Mei stared at the bed sheets she was sitting on. "I'm really sorry Lavi... If I had known..." he tilted his head at her and laughed with his brows knitted together.

"What are you sorry about? Jeez." Lavi sat up on the bed with his legs crossed under him and took her hand, she looked at him startled, "I got to protect you in the end, that's all that matters, so stop blaming yourself already." He pulled her into a light hug, "I forgive you." he smiled patting her back. They pulled back and Mei looked up at him with pink cheeks and he glanced down with his soft green eye that hinted of a slight mischievousness in them when a loud thump shook the two awake and realized just how close they were. Mei pushed back suddenly and turned her head the other way, Lavi shuffled to the other side of the bed with his eyes to the ground.

"I'm... I'm going back to my room." she stuttered and Lavi could only nod his head as Mei got up and ran out his room, in another second he heard her door open and close. The moment he head the door close he heaved a breath and put his head into his hands. My god, what was he thinking?! He let himself fall to his bed when he felt something at his fingertips, he looked over and saw a small figure lying on the bed. He picked it up and looked at it, it was a doll with a thick string attached to it and it had messy red hair and a grinning face. Almost like him. A card was stuck on the back when he opened it and recognized Mei's handwriting. In a neat scribble it read:

_To Lavi:_

_Sorry...._

_-Mei_

Lavi chuckled into the air as he closed his eyes with a smile forming on his lips.

At the other side behind closed doors, a young exorcist was huddled against the wooden doors of the room. Her face was flushed and her heart was racing, she didn't know why her heart was pounding so hard against her chest but it was an elated feeling. Somewhere inside, something has begun to stir in her heart. She crept her way to her bed and slipped in, letting the sound of her racing heartbeat lull her to sleep.


	30. Light of a New Dawn

A/N: Read then review~! You know the drill! Love reviewssss ;D

Chapter 30: Light of a New Dawn

"I wouldn't have expected this much resistance." Lenalee said landing on the tip of the church as she watched the akuma before her explode into a million pieces. Alexandrov was already engulfed in a sea of flames as more and more level twos appeared before them. Allen stood next to her with his white cape around his shoulders and Kanda with his still form of Mugen. Link was on the ground level trying to get everyone evacuated out of the city before it was completely destroyed by the akumas. "The king isn't going to be too pleased with this situation..." she leaped into the air and struck another one down and propelled herself from that force to another. Allen whipped his cape around so that the burst of flame that came at him was blocked. He slashed the three akumas in front with his 'Cross Grave' and went about to the next ones.

"They just won't stop coming at us." Allen observed at the large quantity of the Earl's army, the number of this size was unusual unless there was something they were looking for. "What's here that they want?"

"It seems like they're manifesting faster than usual." Kanda commented with a strike from his sword that destroyed another group of akumas. "As if they're trying to slow us down." he added slowly with narrowed eyes. "There's a Broker here." both Allen and Lenalee thought about the possibility and most likely it might be true. It's evident since there was such large numbers of akumas yet at the same time there weren't as many funerals around since they came to Alexandrov. Randolph and some other Finders were locating the whereabouts of the info that might shed light on what happened to Marian Cross in another nearby city. The three stood on the roof of the large church that overlooked the city with wary eyes, after this there was going to be even more deaths and suffering. Was this the Earl's plan? It was strange, it was like he was attacking these cities on a random basis. "Stop dawdling moyashi, there's business to be done." Kanda growled slightly with his fist clenching in his hands.

"It's Allen you dolt!" he shouted across the fiery city, "I suppose we'll have to find the source of this problem in the heart of the city eh? What do you say Lenalee that we take a little detour?" Allen asked jumping into the dusty air with Kanda following behind. Lenalee only sighed in reluctance at their planning and followed behind with her Dark Boots clacking in the night.

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It was a loud thump that woke him up in the middle of the night, he had heard it once when Mei was in his his room, but now it was a constant thumping sound as if someone was hammering away at something. Lavi's hand immediately went to this side where he kept his mallet when his eyes darted towards his door. There was another thump, a murmur of voices then a scream. Lavi was up faster than a cheetah would be and pulled open the door. Fire greeted him. The smell of burning flesh welcomed his nose. The screams of people entered his ears and the scene of his friends burning in the middle overtook his eyes. It was Hell. The mallet in his hand fell from his grip as he took a step back in horror as his eye went large in terror. Allen was reaching out for him as he screamed again for someone to get him out. Lenalee was crying rivers of blood from where she stood with her feet being charred away. It was unbearable, he turned around to run but was only greeted with darkness. Shit! Where was the room? The inn? Where the bloody hell is everybody? Where the hell was he?! A sudden pain slapped him across the face sending him falling to the ground when someone's voice called out to him. A voice that pleaded for him, wanting him, to save them, they were calling out to him, but the loudest one was _**hers**_. He turned around again with sweat pouring down his face to see a fiery Mei latching onto his foot, he grabbed his anti-akuma weapon and made a swing at her. Her face was contorted into a painful one that made him jolt with guilt, her face was melting off disgustingly piece by piece before only her skeleton remained still attached to his foot.

"I'm sorry!" he cried miserably taking another swing that sent her flying back, another surge of pain came across his face, "Damn it!" he growled touching his throbbing face. It was like he was in some sort of nightmare, trapped and lost. Then from above a loud voice shouted out his name then cursed and then shouted his name again. The pain were now coming in intervals and his face was getting pretty numb from it.

"Damn it Lavi if you don't wake up I'll burn your ass until there's nothing left!" the voice yelled at him, it was definitely recognizable. Lavi could only smile at the real Mei that was now calling out for him from this nightmare. He closed his eyes and let the sound drown out from his ears and the image of burning corpses fall from his eyes. The world around him turned into total darkness when he felt it getting harder to breathe. His eyes flew open and he sucked in the air, the first person he saw was Mei leaning over him with a worried look. Her face was dusty and was covered in dirt when she smiled faintly. "Jeez Lavi, that joke was a bit far." she frowned, her face changed when she suddenly pulled him up from the bed in one swing and had him flinging from her hand. "No time. Akumas. Downstairs!" she chortled opening the door with a forceful jerk and sending him flying over the rails, he screamed a bit before pulling out his mallet.

"Ozuchi Kozuchi!" he yelled, "Man, man, man!" the hammer grew bigger until it slammed itself to the ground with him standing on its long handle. Bookman looked up from the already crushed ground with an unsatisfied look on his face. "Sorry I'm late!" he grinned with a wave.

"Took you long enough." he tsked at him, there was a sound of cloth and a swift landing sound when Lavi looked up and saw Krory standing on the thin rail. His eyes were dark and his face looked like he was having fun killing the akumas, he was in his Innocence form.

"You really did take your time on coming out of that nightmare Lavi." he said with a sarcastic smile that made Lavi roll his eyes.

"You too huh, must've been the drinks." he grinned dangerously in the fire that was starting to grow in the inn that was smoldering in the heat, "Guess it's time to kick some akuma butt back to Hell!"

"Enough chitchat you two," Mei said swiftly coming down from above and landing on the ground. Her black skirt ruffled in the smoke filled room, her head turned from one side to the other, "Where'd she go? Is everyone else out?" she asked Bookman who nodded his head. "Good. Time we find Adelaide."

"Adelaide? The name of the store?" Lavi asked with a cocked head, Krory shook his head at Lavi's lack of attentiveness at things before filling the gaps for him.

"Adelaide is Lieselotte's mother, the original owner of this inn. She was the one that spiked the drinks from earlier in planning to kill us in our sleep and to rid evidence she was going to burn this place down." he explained with a grim look on his face.

"She's an akuma." he slowly said with an anguished face. That damn Earl, taking advantage of grieving women like that, that man didn't even deserve to go to Hell for his deeds.

"Adelaide's been dead for almost a year, her grief was too much that she called upon the Earl to resurrect her dead husband in exchange for her life." Bookman continued, "I'm just not sure if Lieselotte knows." A crashing sound came from the ceiling and the 4 heads looked up with surprised faces. The top had come off from the excessive fire as Krory picked both Lavi and Bookman and dodged the tumbling ceiling that was crashing down. He didn't see her leave her spot and he didn't see her activate her Innocence, so where was she? He found himself looking frantically for her as they reached the night sky that was stained with black smoke. There was shouting noises and a few people that were running to get help, but Mei wasn't amongst the crowd.

"Don't worry so much about her. She's tougher than you think." Krory said with a satisfied smile knowing that he had caught Lavi at a momentarily vulnerable stumble. As if on cue, a blast of fire erupted from the cinders of the roaring flame and a girl walked out covered in dust. A few men ran up to her to see if she was alright and she gave them a smile and a nod to let them know she wasn't hurt. Krory landed a few yards off from where the inn was and Mei made her way over with her hands patting the dust off her sleeves and skirt. The moonlight that was now ashen with the black smoke illuminated her pale legs making them even whiter in comparison, he never really realized how short the skirts were. He stopped the urge of trying to run over and cover her up, what was Komui and the science department thinking?! Mei caught him staring at her legs and she frowned at him and flicked a finger at him. A small ball of fire caught his forehead and he yelped and gave her a hard glare.

"Stop staring perv. Right now isn't the appropriate time or place." she pointed at him and Lavi's face turned beet red when Krory started snickering in the back. Lavi gave him a whack in the stomach which had him keeling over from the abrupt pain. There was an roar and then shouts of fear when a large demonic looking snake headed beast with mechanical arms shot out of the burning building. They could definitely see the star on its forehead with the gaping face staring out. A level two. "It seems Adelaide has finally come out."

_'Innocence Invocate!'_

The fiery whips danced from her hands, Lavi's hammer once again enlarged themselves to unbelieving proportions, Krory had his teeth bared and Bookman's fingers were now laced with sharp needles ready to attack. Mei sidestepped and took off into the night air with Krory jumping from roof to roof while Bookman rode on Lavi's extending hammer. A string of high pitched sound reached theirs ears as Mei faltered in her path to cover her ears and Krory fell to the ground with a wincing face. Lavi clutched his ears in pain as the hammer came to a halt with a tittering old man behind me who was gritting his teeth at his lousy grandson. The sound was coming from the level two akuma and it prevented them from getting any closer without damaging their eardrums. Bookman finally flung his arm out and sent his needles flying towards her throat, with that speed and the cover of the night, the thin needles were hard to make out. It struck the large akuma in the throat when the sound ceased and they all heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oh. This is so on!" Mei growled flinging her arms out and extending the weapon in her hand as it grappled the being in its relentless grasp, the akuma screamed when the fire traveled from her hand and left a branding mark around its neck. Mei yanked with both hands and tore the beast down, Lavi whistled at her sudden strength.

"What are we, Xena?" he joked and she shot him a dirty look, he brought down the thunder a mere second later and she meant it literally. A bolt of lightening struck Adelaide from up top, the shock sent her back to the ground. Yet the attacks weren't potent enough to make her stay down, Lavi snorted, "Its still up?"

"Don't get cocky Lavi." Mei chided with a whack to the head, her attention was back on Adelaide that was now crawling its way up again into the black sky above her. His gramps's needles were still effective as long as it stayed there so the deadly sound was on a little vacation.

"Ow! What is it with you and hitting me? Do you LIKE it when I'm in pain?" he whined childishly at her with a frown as she sent a stream of fire at her foe. She turned to look at him with a bored face that Lavi usually gave to Bookman when they're up in the library studying.

"Maybe. It's probable, since it seems pain is the only way for you to snap out your idiocy." she countered lightly, Lavi took a swing at the akuma's face and sent it hurtling to the ground where Mei lit her foot with fire and aimed a kick to the chin. Just right when she was about to score a hit the akuma smiled victoriously at them.

"You incompetent fools, thinking you exorcists are so powerful that you're making light conversation as you deal with me! I'll kill the both of you and send your pathetic souls to the Earl as a gift." she crooned grabbing Mei in her long deformed arms. Mei struggled against Adelaide's grip when her lips moved itself upwards in a grin, a grin that Lavi saw was filled with malice and evil. It was one that he had seen her use only one other time and that was the time that Rodo had taken control over body, the face that called out sheer horror instead of salvation.

"Mei!" he called out to her, Mei shut her eyes in a hasty way and opened them up drowsily. He gasped a breath at her sudden will to be distracted, he swung again with his fire seal and it hit Adelaide in the face. She screamed and released Mei from her grips and she began falling to earth. He didn't care that the monster reacted faster than he had hoped, he didn't care that it was after him, he didn't give a crap with any of that stuff, he just had to reach her.

Her vision was blurry, for a momentary second she had almost lost control in her desire to kill everything if it wasn't for his voice calling her out. His voice... The soft tone that told her goodnight, his voice that laughed at her when she did something stupid, his voice that shouted at her when they argued, that irritating voice that got on her nerves every damn morning, but... she needed him. Mei opened her eyes fully and saw Lavi reaching out for her, his hair was whipping around his dirty face that was speckled with dust but all the same: it was Lavi. She felt her body flame up to prevent her from falling any further as her surrounding started to slow down, her hands were reaching out for him as he took them in his rough ones and pulled her close. Oddly her fire didn't seem to burn him this time as he held her in his arms, the fire actually took him in gently. She closed her eyes lightly, it was then that a blast of white light erupted from the small town that could be seen from miles on end.


	31. Bloodshed Innocence

A/N: And the story rolls on! Review please~ :D

Chapter 31: Bloodshed Innocence

"Boring... Boring, boring." she yawned in the darkness, blood dripped from her ashen colored skin. Her piercing yellow eyes dominated her facial features asides from the stigmas that was etched across her forehead. These men were clad in a beige colored jacket with portable telephones, the exorcists had called them 'Finders' or what not. Well, they were boring; where were the exorcists? She wanted to play with the exorcists! She wanted to see Allen again! Wasn't that what the Finders were for? Finding the exorcists? They were doing a lousy job being Finders. Her hands were moist and warm from the newly pierced body as she flung it to the side and picked up a partially conscious Finder who was gasping for air. His eyes spoke of fear and anxiousness, he knew death awaited for him but there was still a glint of hope left in his eyes. Without another word she ripped off his head and began to giggle in the newly splattered blood that was decorated across the light blue walls. A flash of light captured her in a box of prism colors, she turned around and saw a big burly man with a short buzzed cut hair look fiercely at her with determined eyes. Another Finder who thinks that he can hold her off with a mere talisman. Hah! He has got to be kidding her. With a wave of her arm the box shattered, she walked up slowly to the man with a grin and grabbed his oversized neck in her hand. She felt the surge of fear shoot through his body as she threw her head back in laughter. She leaned in so close that their faces were inches away from each other, "You humans really are stupid." she murmured delightfully.

Allen eye felt the presence of the akumas fade off as they entered the empty city on foot, it wasn't like they were completely gone, but the numbers has definitely decreased. They looked around before Kanda sighed irritatingly at them.

"The Broker's gone by now." he said simply with a frustrated thrust of Mugen behind his back. Lenalee and Allen walked around the silent city with wary attention. Somehow the dark windows gave him a disturbing feeling that something wasn't right. Allen activated his eye again to see if he had skipped over something, nothing. There was a terrifying howl that echoed the red skies, they turned in the direction of where it came from and started running forth with each step the foreboding feeling in Allen's stomach grew. It wasn't until they reached the doors of a small bar that the feeling was so strong that they were dangerously spilling over. Kanda kicked down the doors and the smell of blood penetrated the air like very heavy perfume and it lingered there like second hand smoke clouding their minds with dread. Lenalee looked like she was going to throw up anytime soon and both Allen and Kanda just stared at the massacre within the bar with shocked eyes. Even for Kanda it was something new to see this degree of torture. The walls and ceilings were scoured with blood everywhere and headless bodies claimed the tables with limp arms and legs hanging over the edge. The floor was soaked with the same stuff as heads were hung from strings dangled from the ceiling with their mouths sewed shut. Lenalee ran to the side and hurled her stomach out, Allen couldn't even bring himself to step inside the building without being consumed with horror. Kanda was the first one in as he stepped around the bodies and made his way inside with a disgusted visage on his face. Give it to Kanda Yu to be the brave and cool one of the group. Allen stayed outside with Lenalee who was heaving out her dinner from a few hours ago. Kanda's footsteps came back as he exited the place, he wiped his face of dripped blood and gave them a cold look.

"Randolph's dead so is the rest of the Finders." was all he said before turning around to look at the other buildings around him with acute vision and perception. Allen heard Lenalee gasp out loudly from the news, he knew that the waterworks were coming soon as another part of her world was shattered. Allen went over and took her hand to give her support, she smiled weakly at him with teary eyes and sniffled.

"Thank you." she mumbled softly when a crack of a whip awoke their attention to the air above them, there sitting delicately on an umbrella was a small girl with spiky blue hair and violent yellow eyes.

"Allen!"

----

It was warm, really warm, but in a very comfortable way. Lavi opened his one good eye slowly and saw that a blazing whiteness has covered them. It was so bright that Lavi had to squint into the light or else it was going to blind him silly. Mei was steadily breathing in his arms as he looked around his surroundings, he seriously has to stop with the world traveling. In the last few hours he's been to at least three different places, there was the dream and now this. He took a step forward when he heard a groan from below him. He looked down and his face went livid for a moment, there on the ground was another Mei, except this Mei was dressed in a simple white dress that went down to her knees and her hair was sprawled all around her like a dark halo. When his foot met her arm in that accidental kick the girl's eyes opened up and looked up at him sleepily. She sat up and rubbed her eyes at him and stood up with a dazed look in her eyes. the dark pools of brown fell onto the girl that was in his arm when her eyes went soft and she looked up at him.

"M...M... Mei?!" he stuttered out at her, the girl before him smiled at him quietly with her head tipping one way to look at him quizzically. "Where are we?" he asked the girl before him. There was something strange about this place, a pulsing aliveness that penetrated his skin. She pointed to the girl in his arm, he continued to look at her with a confused expression. He glanced down at her then back up and shook his head, "I'm sorry... I don't get it."

"_Innocence._" a soulful voice echoed inside the bright cavern, the girl hadn't moved her lips once, but for some reason he knew that it belonged to her. Innocence... It can't mean that right now they were inside Mei's Innocence. It couldn't be that once again Innocence has acted on its own will to protect it's master? Lavi shook his head not knowing what to say. What _was _he suppose to say when you see a second you? Or in this case, a second Mei who's stating that they're **inside **an Innocence. "_She wanted to protected you Lavi, she prayed so hard that last second to me, her Innocence, to protect you. I heard her heartful wish and made it true, it's the only reason why the fire didn't burn you._" Now everything seemed to make sense, this light, the warmth, the feelings that's pouring in. It was all from Mei whose wish was to protect him. He felt a pang of guilt inside of him rise to his throat.

"Will she be alright then?" he asked her with a weak voice that cracked, the other Mei laughed a bit and gave him a meaningful smile and nodded. "That's...good." he said pulling her even closer to him so that could kiss her dirtied face and sighed in relief.

"_She has ways to go in realizing her own feelings, and she'll need you to be there for her as she has already reached out to you and you only it seems. The girl's heart is very attached and fond of you in ways most people don't understand. Please, help this dear girl reach her goal..._" Lavi agreed without a second thought when the girl reached towards Mei and touched her face with her glowing hands. The light began to shift dramatically that Lavi had to squint his eyes, before she disappeared he saw her lips move with words. What did she say? He couldn't see too well when the light died and all there was left was shimmering dust.

"Jesus christ, does everything we do have to be so complicated..." Lavi sighed with resignation when the world around him began to change. "What the hell..." Lavi just shut his eye again and hoped that they were getting out of there soon. The sound of the shrieking akuma told Lavi that he was once again outside when he opened his eye again to a rather shocking and splendid view. He was flying, sort of, more like suspended in air. A large winged dragon made out of fire has encircled him like a shield from the dangers of the outside world as the akuma banged itself against the dragon's fiery hide only to end up getting burned. He saw his gramps and Krory from the outside look at him with equally shocked expressions as they attacked Adelaide without mercy. Lavi couldn't do anything else but to watch as his comrades fought outside, if he let go she was going to fall but he couldn't just stand there and watch. Krory was knocked aside by her as Bookman sent out a pistol of needles at Adelaidex, it covered her body in metallic metal when she froze in her stance. It was then that Krory flew through the air and landed on top that has been opened up by his grandfather. The soft spot on the akuma's body, he disappeared momentarily then reappeared in the night sky with a maniacal smile. Akuma oil dripped from his lips as he wiped them away, Lavi shuddered- he remembered once where he was bitten by Krory in order to get the infection out, it still haunted him now. Adelaide screamed with the acupuncture needles falling from her body, she twisted in what seemed like pain before kneeling down with all her arms clutching her body.

"GAHH! WHAT HAVE YOU DAMN EXORCISTS DONE TO ME?!" she wailed miserably, Krory smirked. There was a color distortion to her skin as blotches of white appeared in a fast paced manner. Like some disease tainting her systems and was killing her from the insides.

"Just left you a little gift from me." Krory said with a swift bow, "I bit you with my Innocence, leaving traces of it inside of you and since Innocence is like fatal poison to akumas, you shall die a painful death. Just like those men you killed off from the inn." Lavi gasped.

"All of them?" he asked with a shocked voice, Bookman nodded gravely as he watched the akuma struggle. The Innocence was spreading faster and faster, it won't be long until she explodes from the pressure in so, releasing the trapped soul from within.

"That's how she found her victims, when those men came in from lunch and dinner; she would watch from upstairs as her daughter took care of the inn. She'd kill two to three of them each time so it wouldn't be too suspicious. Seeing as this village is a hard labor village, there aren't many women around, making them easy targets." Bookman noted with a frown.

"That's... that's right! I took their lives so I could evolve! They didn't deserve to live so happily. I would rid this world where death is inevitable. Pathetic humans always breaking promises and lying!" she wailed, "All so selfish!"

"Selfish?! Look who's talking Adelaide!" Lavi yelled suddenly, he was sick and tired of hearing her complain about how bad the human race is. He's heard that excuse over and over again from weeping akumas who were about to die. It wasn't the humans that were happy and alive that was selfish, it was those that can't bring themselves to see the other precious things around them who were the real selfish ones. Calling the Earl and imprisoning their loved ones in a monster's body. They were the ones that were truly the selfish ones. "You imprisoned your husband's soul in that wreck of a body, your husband that _loved _you. He wouldn't have wanted to see you so sad and miserable, now you've left your only daughter alone in this world. You still have Lieselotte that loves you and now she's going to lose you too. Who's the selfish one here? You were so caught up in your husband's death you've forgotten what's important to you."

"Mother! Mother!" a voice shouted from the fiery darkness, Lavi watched as Bookman went to her and tried to calm her down when the girl broke down crying. The akuma reached out towards the girl hesitantly.

"Lieselotte...?" she called out, Lieselotte's frightened eyes peered up and she almost screamed when she heard the voice.

"Mother?" she asked hesitantly, "Vater..." she heard his voice mixed in with her mother's too.

"Es tut mir so leid Lieselotte..." the voice was soft and almost inaudible, "Es tut mir lied, ich habe nicht die pflege von ihen wie eine mutter tun sollte."

"It's okay mother, you don't have to say sorry... We'll be together again won't we, so please... No more." Lieselotte cried with her arms reaching out for her. The akuma shook its head before it started to glow all white, the Innocence has finally taken over the whole body.

"Wir lieben euch." she finally said before a loud popping noise sounded and the akuma that stood before them disappeared with a blast. Small lights descended down upon them as the a streak of brightness went flying into the air. Lieselotte's eyes were red and puffy, but she smiled at the sky with trembling lips.

"Me too..." she mumbled.

x x x

The protective guard around Lavi disappeared as the akuma presence was lifted from the air, with Krory, Bookman, and Lieselotte watching him descend from above they all had weird expressions on their faces. They were clearly surprised at the prospect that another Innocence had protected its wielder has appeared. Lavi stepped down gently when Mei's eyes opened, she touched her head with a wince.

"Lavi...?" she mumbled shakily with a tired face, her body was sore and tired and it felt like she was having the worse hangover ever. She didn't even drink!

"Yes, ma`am!" he quipped energetically with a smile, she sighed and leaned back onto his chest in relief. She was suddenly too exhausted to care that he was being over too happy about a situation like this.

"Ohhh," she groaned, "I had the strangest dream, I saw myself... Like there was two of me or something and there was this bright light and then there was Lavi standing there mumbling something to her or what not. It was so weird." Bookman gave Lavi a hard stare, Lavi understood. She just might be a candidate too, either that or her Innocence was evolving just like Lenalee's.

"Exorcists-sama!" a voice yelled out heavily from the smoke clogged night, they turned and saw Theodore running over to them with a worried face. "Exorcists-sama! Are you guys okay? I was so worried! Is she alright, medical treatment are on their way." Theodore noted with a frantic nod. Mei and Lavi just chuckled.

"Sorry for worrying you, Theo." Mei said quietly with a small grin, Theodore looked at her with a grateful visage before nodding again and taking Lieselotte to a more secure place. Before she was lead away she turned around to look at them one more time.

"I don't really understand what happened," she started uneasily with a hand pulling on her messy braid that fell over her shoulder, "But I would like to thank you you exorcists for setting my mother and father free."

"That's our job, so no problem." Lavi waved with a half grin on his lips and dirty face that was scattered with dirt.

"You knew?" Krory asked her, Lieselotte's eyes made their way to the ground with an apologetic smile.

"I guess somewhere inside, I knew that mother wasn't the same person as she was before papa died. She use to love the outdoors, couldn't stand on being cooped up inside a boring old inn. Though, after papa got sick and passed away, mother was a completely different person. She would never come out of the room and she never ate either, I was in denial to say that there was something wrong with her." she explained, "When the men started to disappear I began to have my doubts, but I was too naive to care." she sighed with her eyes closed. "I shouldn't have been so stupid."

"It's not your fault, Lieselotte." Mei interjected suddenly, Lieselotte's head raised up with her eyes wide. "It wasn't you fault, so stop blaming yourself. Somewhere up there, your mother and father are looking down on you and hope you move on and be happy. I wouldn't think they'd want you to brood over this for the rest of your life. You have your whole life ahead of you." Lieselotte gave her a quivering smile before bowing slightly to them, she turned around once again to follow Theodore when she spoke up again.

"If you're still heading to Frankfurt's direction, I must warn you to be careful there. I hear there are disappearances there too." she stated before running to follow up with Theodore that who was already some several feet away.

"It seems this journey will get only harder as we approach Frankfurt." Bookman observed with wary attention. They watched as the fire consumed the rest of the inn with men from every direction trying to get more water to drown it out. The true war has just begun and they all knew it.

"No worries, you'll take them all down if we have to." Mei said with a readied fist in hand, Lavi smothered a laugh in his throat that earned him a glare from Mei, "What? You say I can't do it?" she argued.

"You barely made it out of this one alive and that was just a level two. You've gotten rusty from all that hospital rest." he taunted lightly with a flick to her forehead, she glowered at him with dagger eyes.

"Let me off." she told him, she pushed herself off his arms. The feeling of touching the ground never came to her as she fell to the ground in a heap. "What the..." she pushed herself off the pebbled street. "I can't feel my body." she said looking up at Krory, Bookman, and Lavi. There was a loud clapping noise that came from one of the trees when they all looked around themselves. A dark but attractive voice rang out in the course of all that's happened in the small village.

"Well done exorcists!" he said brightly, Lavi stiffened in his position. That voice... It belonged to only man that he was brought up to hate as long as he lived. It was _him_. That man that had killed Allen once before and several other exorcists including Daisya Barry, Kevin Yeegar, and Suman Dark. It was the Noah of Pleasure back from Hell it seemed, Tyki Mikk.

Notes: German

-I'm so sorry, Lieselotte."

-"I'm sorry that I wasn't there to care for you when I should've also been a better mother."

-"We love you."


	32. Memories Afloat

A/N: A kiss from this guy and a kiss from the other- a few seconds of privacy and blooming emotions- Lets see what happens to our lucky gal tonight!

Chapter 32: Memories Afloat

His eyes were deep yellow, almost gold and he had that longish hair that was tied up in that nonchalant way that made his face rather handsome looking. His jaws were squared away and his smile was earth shattering, Mei felt herself staring at the man before her with the most intriguing interest. He had that grayish skin tone, plus the yellow eyes- that only meant one thing. He was a Noah. Even still, she felt a excited sensation spread through her body at his presence, her fingers dug themselves into the dirt as she continued to stare from the ground. She heard Lavi's fingers crack and she looked over her shoulder to see a fuming a red head glaring at the man like he was trying to make him explode from his intense stare. Tyki sat on the thick branch of the tree not too far off from the exorcists. What a splendid show they had put on for him, especially the surprising ending of it, with the crystalized flaming dragon. His white dress shirt contrasted against his gray skin tone that illuminated his shocking gold eyes even more as he stared down happily at them. He felt a prickle of strangeness course through his system when his eyes met that of dark topaz that he found the source of discomfort and contentment. Her long dark locks fell around her pale face as her eyes bore into his with relentless attention, it was that girl that Rodo had played with that other time! He continued with his clapping with a bright expression on his face.

"Well done, well done!" he congratulated, his clapping reverberated through out the night air like suffocating mockery, "You've managed to destroy her in the end, exceptional battle." he complimented. Lavi's fist clenched together tighter that his nails dug into his palm painfully.

"What do you want beauty-mark?" he called out rudely, Tyki looked hurt when he called him that. It was strange watching this Noah act so... close to them. Tyki's eyes never left hers as his thoughts whirred in action to find her name. What was her name again... Mei, that's right! Her name was Mei, a new exorcist as he heard from Rodo. The girl that eye-patch was 'in like' with, and the girl that has been a nuisance to the Earl's plan. She was an interesting girl it seemed, she had presented the same exact result as the other girl, Lenalee with the crystal cage as a barrier to protect the holder of Innocence. Yet, instead of complete crystallization, this girl was protected by fire that ranged from hundreds of degrees.

"Ku~ No need to be so cold towards me the first time meeting in so long eye-patch." Tyki replied smoothly with a pout. He pointed a finger down at Mei and smiled that made her gasp a little in reaction and he chuckled, all these woman exorcists' expressions were priceless. Tyki slipped from the branch and landed on the ground gracefully and stood there with his hands in his pockets. "I'm not here to fight, I'm here merely as a spectator. Don't do anything stupid or I'd have to kill you and that'll be no fun since you're much more amusing to me alive than dead." He walked over towards Mei who was still on the ground when a finger found her chin and lifted her face so they were looking into each other's eyes. "Ah! You're the girl that survived Rodo's punishment game. Pleasure to meet such a lovely lady as yourself. I'm Tyki Mikk, Noah of Pleasure. You're as cute as the other girl I might add." he greeted with a smile. His breath fanned itself across her face that made her head a little dizzy with excitement and his cool touch on her burning skin felt nice for a change. She shook her head of the sudden inappropriate thoughts and moved her head away from him with a frown.

"Hentai." she said offensively with a dark look in her eyes, a jab of hatred poked Tyki in the stomach when his eye started to twitch. He let his hand fall, but gave her a unbelievable facial expression.

"Hentai?! Why are you exorcists always so mean to me, especially that cheating boy! We've barely met and already you're throwing insults at me!" he said with a frown, pulling back from her face, "I'm hurt!" with his hands over his heart, Mei sighed. This Noah was ridiculous.

"Yeah, most definitely." she muttered under her breath with a roll of her eyes. She turned her head back at him with an evil smirk, "Oh, so you're the idiot that Allen stripped to his underwear in a game of poker. How disgraceful for a Noah." she snorted with a smug look on her face, he could literally see her nose grow from her large pride. Tyki's temple sprouted a throbbing vein and he gritted his teeth. That boy just had to tell everyone about his little misfortune, what a devil that child is. The image of Allen popped into his head, he could just see that boy laughing his ass off somewhere at the moment. How infuriating! He leaned in again unexpectedly with a playful grin.

"Feisty, just the way I like them." he chuckled, just then his cold lips gently brushed themselves against hers in a soft kiss. Mei was too taken back by his action to react when there was a whoosh. Tyki stepped back just in time before a large hammer slammed down onto the ground sending Mei jumping into the air.

"I think that's enough out of you." Lavi suddenly spat out venomously, Mei looked down and saw that Krory and Bookman's jaw had dropped themselves to the ground exception to Lavi was who's eye was now blazing with fire. Literally. If it wasn't for his Innocence shining so brightly she would've sworn she saw a demon lurking behind the angry Bookman Jr. ready to kill Tyki. Tyki took the chance and slipped away to make a grab for the open girl. "I wouldn't really do that if I were 's the matter eye-patch? Feeling envious? It can't be that it was her first kiss would it?" he taunted, Lavi turned around to face Tyki with angry eyes. His long arms were wrapped neatly around her small waist with his large purple glowing weapon at her throat. Tyki's chin was propped against her shoulder when he grinned down at them. "How do you like it eye-patch? Jealous?" He asked mockingly at him. Lavi gripped his weapon so tight that his knuckles has turned a deadly white, any tighter and his bones might as well rip through his skin. Lavi was in fact boiling inside from the way he was touching her, and he still has an age old grudge against the Noah of Pleasure.

Her mind was still in shock at what actually happened and what she thought had happened. Mei's face was turning a shade of dark red when she realized the reality of that one second. Her horrified face was clearly evident in how she felt, Tyki had just kissed her!

"Damn it... What a mortifying thought, to think I let actually let the likes of you take away my first kiss..." she muttered through with the lack of air going down her throat, "How... how could you swing that thing at me Lavi!" she choked. It was strange, it wasn't like she was completely scared of the Noah that might as well kill her now. She had a hunch that he wasn't going to hurt her and that he was just pushing their buttons for reasons unknown to her. His hands were actually warm, she still couldn't understand the fact that they were human too and working for the Earl.

"Let. Her. Go." Lavi demanded, "Or else." he threatened him with a frown on his lips. Mei hadn't seem him this mad at anyone before, not even the time that he had spied on her and Al in the library. Lavi was PISSED.

"Or else what, eye-patch?" he asked simply with a shrug, "If you don't do anything soon, I mind as well kill her now." his warm breath was tickling her shoulder that was bare from a rip in her uniform, Mei involuntarily shuddered a little. Tyki felt the shiver run up her body, her legs wavered and her body trembled from his touch. It only made him more excited that her body wasn't resisting him. "You know what, I think it'll be much more fun if I played with her a little. Don't you think?" he asked Lavi with a smug smile, he drew the weapon across her neck slowly that it made a long scrape that dripped out blood. Mei winced from the pain, at that moment Lavi jumped from into the air with his large mallet in attack mode.

"Gouka Kaijin: hi-ban!" he shouted whacking it towards where Tyki stood, he dodged the large fire snake and reappeared on the other side of the sky laughing.

"Is that all? You were so much better back in Edo! You actually amused me back then!" he badgered with a hysterical grin. "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Or I might just take advantage of her." he said placing a kiss on the nape of her neck when he licked off the blood that was smeared on her cut. Every hair on Mei's body rose to its end when she felt his lips on her skin again, it was a disgusting yet pleasurable feeling. With her head spinning from all the sudden altitude and her body rendered useless, she couldn't do anything to stop him. She groaned a little, tiny shocks of electricity shot through her body when her mind blanked out. Flashes of images rose to her mind, she _had_ met Tyki before... When she was little, she saw him covered in blood once under the bright red moon of the Autumn Festival. She had thought she was seeing an angel then, but when in reality he was the devil's spawn. Blood... It was a man and a woman that he had killed that night, that night when she had accidentally watched her own parents deaths. Her mind must've shut out the traumatic scene of death at such a young, that's why she couldn't remember much. Now that Tyki's voice has reached her ears again, something snapped inside of her.

"You let me live that night." she disclosed out-of-the-blue, Tyki looked at the girl in his arm quizzically, "Why'd you'd kill my parents and let me live?" she asked angrily. A sudden surge of pain reached both their heads as he clutched his head in pain and Mei cursed under her breath. It was like floods of memory racing into into his head all at the same time. He had seen a little girl that night in her white nighties walking out from the house, she had those clear dark topaz eyes that stared into his without fear. That night was the first night that he doubted in himself as he fled away with his hand dripping with her exorcist parents' blood, he had indeed let her live. "Let go, you bastard." she gritted through her teeth blazing up that soon her whole body was submerged in a red conflagration. Tyki let her go with a yelp at the sudden burst of fire, the girl with long dark locks no longer stood before him but just a mass of flames and anger. He recognized it, it was the same brilliance as Skin Bolic's anger and wrath.

"You are really are hot when you're mad." he teased at her, she sent a flaming ball at him. Tyki didn't move, he just stood there with an insane expression plastered on his face as his palms opened up to reveal two large butterflies. They took flight into the air and swallowed the fire which resulted in their combustion. "You've gotten faster." he complimented.

"Don't forget, she's not the only one." a voice interfered from behind, Tyki looked back as Lavi swung at him a different seal. "Rai-ban!" a shock of electricity was brought down from the skies when Tyki just sidestepped and slipped into thin air.

"He's too powerful, at this point we can't defeat him like this. That stupid grandson of mine is just letting his damn emotions rule his fighting skills." Bookman muttered, Krory looked helplessly at the swinging two in the air. "I knew it would be bad, those two should know their own power levels. We're no match for a Noah."

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't try," Krory said next to him, the old man looked up at the young exorcists and clicked his tongue again.

"The last time Chomesuke warned you, you and that buffoon didn't listen and almost got yourself killed. Thank god that Miranda was there at that time to reverse the wounds." Bookman said bitterly, that time was the only time that Bookman actually weeped for Lavi.

"No need to get so angry eye-patch, she enjoyed it herself and she knows it." Tyki said with a smile in the air, "I wasn't here to fight you guys anyways, I was here for the girl." he pointed at Mei with a finger. "Now you've made it complicated. I'm going have to kill you all of you and wipe this town from the face of the map."

'_Tyki.' _Lulubelle's voice rang in his head, Tyki frowned and swiftly went through his hair with one hand before backing away from the two exorcists. _'What?' _he grated irritatingly back at her. _'Get the other three first, stop loitering around this one. We'll get her later.' _she replied swiftly and he groaned, the fun just started and she wanted him to back at now? _'Yes, now.' _she demanded. Tyki rolled his eyes before popping a cigarette between his lips.

"Well seems like you two got lucky today, I have another hit I have to do so I'll play with you guys some other time and the next time we meet- I'm not going easy on you." he said with a maniacal grin playing on his lips. He sauntered easily over to Mei like God walking on water and leaned in towards her face so that they were inches away. The cigarette in his mouth lit near her fire as she tried to back away, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. His ability to move through anything was certainly amazing.

"We'll reminisce about our fond memories later, love." he whispered making her cheeks turn redder than her fire that was surrounding her like a protective cover. He began to disappear with each passing dark butterfly that fluttered from his body when only his voice echoed, "I won't let you live so easily next time... Mei Esvadania Chang."

----

He sulked, he fumed, he yelled, he even attempted to roar once. It was the worse they had seem him in. Yes, he was indeed childish and yes he was immature, but really all that screaming and stomping wasn't necessary, it only brought forth unwanted attention from the normal people of the world. He was throwing a temper tantrum because of Tyki Mikk, he had actually let him get to him like that, she should've known that that source of jealousy from before would boil over at Tyki's intimate gestures at her. Bookman had been scolding nonstop at the red head too, about learning to control his temper at times of difficulty and not let others push him so easily. Mei had a strange feeling that Bookman was watching her and Lavi's activity as so that they didn't get too close to each other. They had finally made it to Frankfurt and was staying at a grand hotel due to their status as exorcists, at the moment they were in the mens' suite as Mei once again had a room to herself. The overhangs were lavishly decorated in deep red that hung down like royal capes of kings and queens over the windows that stared out into a beautiful cityscape, the room was light beige with gold trimmings with 4 large beds for Krory, Bookman, Lavi, and Theodore. Each bed was covered in thick golden blankets and large pillows that seemed very comfortable to sleep in. The floor was carpeted with a light brown color that brought out the brightness of the walls and ceilings. The two large doors that lead to the rooms were also intricately designed by hand to fit the magnificence of the suite. There was a soft knock that came from the door when Krory turned around from the windows towards the door. Bookman and Theodore had gone off into the city to make plans to see the king tomorrow at the latest and has left the other three in charge of their belongings.

"The door's unlocked." he said, the door opened with a click and Mei slipped in with a worried look, "Thank goodness you're here, Mei." she walked over to him as he sighed.

"He's still sulking." she commented with a frown, "Such a baby." she muttered with a shake of her head.

"You shouldn't have let that Noah do that to you, you'd only infuriate Lavi even more." Krory told her with a smile, she made a face at him and pointed lowly at him.

"It's not like I was doing it on purpose." she said guiltily, she did partially feel bad since deep down she hated that man so much... What with the memory flashbacks of her parents' deaths and all. Yet, she knew her body had enjoyed it. All she wanted to do was breakdown crying until she couldn't anymore, that her tear ducts would shrivel up and she would lie in bed and do nothing all day but be somber. But, she can't. There are things out there that are more important, she couldn't bring herself to live in the past for so long as to hold onto dreadful feelings. She wanted freedom, but at the same time be someone that cherished and loved her memories. "At that point in time, I couldn't feel anything in my body so I let the emotions in me take control of what I had to do. It's okay though, I took a hot shower when I got here." she said pointedly. Krory tilted his head at her making the white part in his hair fall across his black eyes.

"I don't understand why Mei and Lavi won't tell one another how you really feel about each other. It's definitely obvious that he has feelings for you, yet you two go on doing things that get each other mad. It's unhealthy in a relationship to keep secrets you know." he told her bluntly, Mei gawked at him with her dark eyes with faint coloring crawling up to her cheek bones. She crossed her arm in front of her chest and glanced off to another side so her hair would cover her face. "You should tell each other before it's too late." he was once again referring back to his situation with Eliade.

"What, what are you talking about Krory? Lavi's only interested in cute, big breasted, blonde, women." she huffed angrily at him for making such a bold comment. She brushed back her hair and tied it up into a long ponytail that flowed behind her back like Kanda's. "There's no way we would like each other. Ever. I made a promise I won't." she muttered to herself.

"Well, I've never seen him get particularly jealous at just any girl except you and it seems like you don't like the very idea that he has interest in other girls." Krory pointed out another fact, with each fact it was like there was no escape to his verdict and that was she indeed have feelings for Lavi and vice versa. Mei looked to the brown carpeted floor with a docile expression, her face still dancing with blush from before.

"Whatever." she stammered out before walking to the closed door, "We're exorcists and he's a Bookman, we don't have time for those kind of silly dreams." she raised her hand and knocked it softly on the wooden door. "I'm coming in whether you like it or not." she warned opening the door by breaking the knob. "I guess Komui will pay for that..." she said softly to herself. She closed the door behind her and faced the boy that was sprawled on the bed like a panda on a Sunday afternoon. His long legs dangled off the four poster bed and his arms almost reached the edge, but not really. "Look, I'm sorry okay?" she walked over and sat on the bed with her hand reaching out for his. "He was just teasing you since he knows you bite easily."

"So I'm gullible now?' he asked her without turning around to face her, his comments and the say he said them stung her a little.

"I didn't say you were gullible Lavi. I just said you let your emotions get the better of you." she elaborated, "You weren't like this before I came, I've checked. If I'm distracting you, then I think it's best if we switched out. I don't want you getting in trouble because of me." he finally got up to look at her, with his head band flung to the floor his hair was once again flying all over the place. She reached up and pushed his hair away as her hand caressed down the rest of his face, "You're better than this." He took her hand in his and looked into her topaz eyes with his bright emerald one.

"I can't help but be jealous when I see you with another guy... My mind goes blank cause..." he stopped and backed away, "It's not going to work, I can't, we can't." he murmured. Mei looked down at the purple covers and smiled, her fingers mindlessly played with the frays of the blankets.

"I know, the roles of exorcists aren't to fraternize with each other, but..." she took both his hands and placed them on her face when she looked into his eyes, "If it makes you feel any better... Just so to say you'd focus better, I won't look at any other guy, if you promise me that you'll only look at me." she whispered her cool breath on his warm face. He leaned down so that their foreheads touched lightly when she saw a smile creep to his lips. She could no longer deny the erupting emotions that were bottled inside herself from the beginning. The first day when those two met it was like their fates crashed and their beliefs were put to the test. Mei had already known by the time she couldn't leave his side was the time she got hooked and had broken the sole promise to herself that she wouldn't fall for a fool.

"I think I can do that," he replied, his hand reached into her long dark hair letting the hair band fall so that her hair cascaded down in a waterfall motion and pulled her gently into the kiss of a lifetime. She felt her heart race at 100 miles per hour against her chest when his hands tangled themselves into her hair and her arms found their way around his neck ever so softly. Every touch sent her mind to a frenzy and every kiss was like a whirlwind of anticipation and secrets. His stomach knotted together with fluttering butterflies when he kissed her lips for the first time since their meeting at the cafeteria hall. The strange excitement in his body was a new experience for him and he liked it, it was like adrenaline coursing through his system. Their fingers intertwined themselves amongst the bed sheets with her pressed against the body of the older boy above her. He placed a kiss on her neck and took in her provocative smell as she let out a small gasp, he made his way down to her collar bone when she giggled at a soft spot. A sudden knock on the door caught their attention, the two looked at each other startled and sat up.

"Uh, come in." Lavi said brushing down his even wilder hair and Mei combed through her unruly hair with her fingers hoping they wouldn't notice. She straightened her shirt and skirt before standing up and Krory sticking his head in.

"The others are back, I suggest you two scadaddle before he finds out you two are in the same room." he cautioned with a witty smile at the two who both seemed flushed and alive with bright eyes. "You have 5 minutes." the moment he closed the door behind, Lavi pulled her in and planted a kiss so gentle on her lips she might've thought it never happened if she didn't let him go.

"Okay, bye." he grinned placing another kiss on her lips, she laughed letting him hold onto her hands with his large ones, "We really got to go, you've got 3 minutes and 38 seconds..." he said with a playful voice. Sometimes being a Bookman came with great skills.

"Okay..." she whispered looking up at him. She let his hands fall from her grasp when she turned and headed towards the door. Mei opened the door and quietly slipped out with a secret smile. Lavi let himself fall back onto the bed with a satisfied goofy grin on his face, with his hands placed behind his head like he usually did. Tonight was going to be a good night.

It was also that night that a forbidden passion of secret stolen moments blossomed between the two that opened Pandora's Box of darkness.


	33. At the Strength of Our Resolve

A/N: Sorry it's been so late... T.T My internet died over the seasons since it got caught up in the seasonal tangle on the large web... Well here's chapter 33! Read and review!

Chapter 33: At the Strength of Our Resolve

There was blood, blood splattered everywhere on the street of Alexandrov. Kanda and Allen were already at their limit on how much they can push themselves any further. Their bodies were wasted away on the cobblestone ground as Lenelee attempted to look up with the help of her boots. No, she couldn't lose to them, not now, not ever- even if Rodo was a human, she must be killed for the sake of protecting her family. She had already once been manipulated by Rodo and she had watched one of her close friend also be taken right in front of her eyes just so she could be used to fight against her own comrades. She doesn't want to see that ever again, especially Lavi's anguished face when he had to go up against someone he loved. No one deserved that kind of cruel punishment. The Noah of Dreams was twirling across one of the building tops when her golden eyes pierced themselves at the bloody exorcists with a satisfied grin on her face when she noticed that the girl was still conscious.

"Oh! You're still up even after I made you go through the ordeal of watching all your friends and family die? I'm impressed." she laughed clapping her hands as if it gave her a thrill on putting people through misery gave her some sort of high. It wasn't easy, but Lenalee had managed to escape the tortured world when both Kanda and Allen had pulled her out of that wretched world of chaos. She watched in horror as her friends died at her feet and the pool of blood getting bigger each time someone fell onto the cold hard ground. It was the worse nightmare she had ever witnessed, every fear within her heart brought to life right before her eyes.

"Then I guess I really can't go easy on you exorcists since I was ordered to kill you guys." she said gleefully jumping onto an umbrella like stick that screamed a little when she did. A card appeared floating in her opened palm when she picked it up between her fingers to read off names in which Lenalee has never heard of when her, Kanda, and Allen's names also slipped out of the young Noah's lips. She looked back down at the struggling black haired teen, "I really don't want to kill my beloved Allen, but seeing as he's hindering Earl-sama's plans I have no choice but to do so. I've looked forward in seeing his beautiful red blood flow from his heart..." she said dreamily. Lenalee coughed up blood that dripped down her chin and onto the ground, she glared at the spiky haired girl.

"Messed up as usual huh?" Lenalee crowed with a wince, the open wound on her stomach was getting worse when she moved too much, she looked over to where Allen laid sprawled on the ground with a bleeding head injury and towards Kanda whose torn body laid limp on a pile of rubble. "Don't expect any love back from Allen." she muttered under her breath. Rodo sent out a few waves of her burning candles at the disabled Lenalee who took the last second to dodge the attack. She was lucky that her anti-akuma weapon now reacted upon her instincts, it gave her a faster reflex time than usual. The candles desecrated another building when Rodo waved her arm at Lenalee and another set of pointed spears were aimed at her.

"Flying away like a little butterfly, how troublesome," Rodo sang out joyfully, "makes the job that much more interesting." Lenalee wasn't going to last very long like this if it continued, the wounds that she has sustained has already lowered her speed and agility since she can't move too fast or else the pain would be too much. She clutched her stomach and forced herself to dodge again, she landed at the far end of the town on top of a building when she made a run for it and hid herself behind a large brick wall. Lenalee's breath was ragged and short, she had to think of something or else they were all going to die. "Olly, olly, oxen free!" Rodo called out playfully, Lenalee heaved a troubled breath with her mind running at high speeds with a plan, but none was coming up. She could hear the shattering of other buildings around her and with each one Rodo was getting closer to where Lenalee was hiding out. There was no way out but to fight, Lenalee clenched her fists together before standing up as much as it pained her and glared up at the bright red sky.

"Alright, you wanna play? Lets play." she said to herself, she closed her eyes and took a breath letting the air clear her mind and shot into the air._ 'Onkyou no Tougi: Otokase; Sound of Shackles'_. Using the sonic sounds around her she bounced off of them to head towards the young girl that was at the moment focused on looking for her instead of paying attention to the girl that was charging at her at full speed. "Enbu Hirikaze!" Lenalee shouted twisting her foot around in creating a large destructive tornado at Rodo who turned around with a surprised face and Lenalee grinned when she heard laughter erupt from the midst of the raging wind.

"It's going to take more than that to kill me Lenalee," Rodo giggled slightly when her attack was suddenly dispelled by a wipe of her hands. "Now taste the wax of my candles." she grinned maliciously at Lenalee who was abruptly surrounded by millions of Rodo's burning candles that served as sharp knives. There was no way that she could escape the multitude of this attack at this range, she would just have to think of something else. She saw them come at her and she saw the face that Rodo was making, Lenalee wasn't even sure if she was going to live or not to see the smiling faces of friends and brother again, but all she knew was that only one person crossed her mind when she shut her eyes from the incoming attack.

_'Nii-san!' _The pain that was suppose to come never came and the sound of her body being pierced also never came. Lenalee opened her eyes only to stare aghast at the the people that was standing before her. Allen had his Crown Clown activated in shield mode around her with Kanda's 'Hell's Insect' taking on all the candles and sending them back at Rodo who just brushed them off like they were nothing. Kanda pointed Mugen at Rodo with a frown and Allen deactivated his cape and looked at Lenalee.

"Don't give up just yet." he said to her with a smile before turning around to face the Noah head on. Kanda was standing on top of the tallest buildings and giving Rodo a cold stare with his sword ready to dissect her apart.

"Che, it'll take more than _that _to kill _us_." Kanda mocked at Rodo, using her own words against her.

"Clever samurai and God's own personal jester, how fun would this be." Rodo complimented lightly, "I really don't want to hurt you Allen." she cooed and he shivered involuntarily at her, it was really too much when she did that. It was already bad enough that she had stolen a kiss from him, but now this too. "And I HATE it when you're with other women!" she shouted with a grin dancing on her face. Allen felt his left eye activate on its own when she snapped her fingers, at the sound, several level two and threes appeared at her side. "Kill them, if you don't, self-destruct on behalf of my amusement." she said with a clap of her hands. The akumas dashed forward relentlessly as they clashed with the exorcists at hand. Kanda held back a large deformed teddy with half a human baby face while Allen caught a large bat like one in his Clown Belt and flung it aside.

"Stand back everyone." Lenalee warned taking in a breath, she exhaled before kicking into the air, "Enbu hirikaze!" she shouted twisting the tornado at the 6 akumas. She turned her head at Kanda and Allen. "Now!" Both of them jumped into the cyclone, flashes of blue and white light erupted from within when two level three's managed to escape the death trap that Lenalee and the others had set up. Rodo watched amusingly from her balcony seat in the air, they were indeed much stronger and faster than the last time she had to deal with them.

"My, what delicious looking exorcists we have here. I must say we're going to feast tonight isn't that right Ren?" one of the levels threes asked and the other nodded greedily with his hands cracking in anticipation. "Let me share with you my portion of the power!" he laughed flinging his arm out. Allen, Kanda, and Lenalee held their breath for something to happen but nothing came at them.

"Is he serious?" Kanda asked with a pissed expression when suddenly he felt his body go rigid. Allen and Lenalee also felt their bodies tighten up, their eyes darted towards the akumas who stood watching them in an entranced and giddy way. In mere seconds neither of them could seem to move any parts of their body. They were sitting ducks out there in the open!

"You won't be able to move even a single muscle, with the dark matter power of paralysis I can paralyze anyone of you making you easy targets to kill." he informed them with a prideful tone. The other akuma came forward with a drawn weapon at Allen, Lenalee watched in terror of the blood bath before her as Allen fell to the ground once more with a gaping wound in his chest.

"ALLEN!" she screamed, she forced herself to move but her body just wouldn't budge from their place. "Come on!" she pleaded with tears gushing out of her dark eyes. _'Please Innocence... You heard my resolve... Please let me protect what's important to me! Lend me your power._' The akuma came back for a second helping who was now facing Kanda that shot him a dirty look. He couldn't believe he was being beaten down by a level three! How annoying. His hands flexed, he wasn't going to die here now, not when there's so much left for him to do. He has to find that person or else everything would be meaningless. He triggered a massive amount of energy from Mugen that surged through his arms allowing him movement. As his Innocence power grew, the dark matter that was in control seeped away. The second akuma flung his weapon above his head for more momentum to strike down the long haired boy when a blast of blue and green light shot from the two exorcists.

"What the!" he turned his head back at the other akuma, "I thought you had them under control Enjin!" he yelled backing away from the destructive light that was charging at them, "Get away!" he shouted, but from the depths of the city, white strips of straps came shooting through the darkness and latching themselves onto the body armor of the akumas.

"I DID!" Ren yelled back, "My dark matter should've had them on hold!" they couldn't escape their fate as Kanda and Lenalee shot from the light with their weapons drawn. Lenalee was speeding at such a speed that she disappeared in seconds to come crashing through the tough armor that protected the akuma. Kanda raised Mugen above his head and slashed down into the akuma before him in one attack. They landed on the top of another building and looked back at the released souls, Allen's Crown Clown lifted him up towards the other two with a smiling white haired boy who was covered in blood.

"Allen!" Lenalee cried out in joy and Kanda scoffed a small 'show-off'. Allen then turned and faced Rodo with a serious face.

"Killed off all my toys again have you?" Rodo frowned despairingly at them, her hands waved towards her face in a fanning motion. "You guys are no fun."

"I won't let you play with any more of their lives Rodo." Allen said gruffly, Rodo flipped to her stomach to get a better look at the exorcists and giggled.

"Too late honey, Alexandrov isn't the only city burning tonight..." Rodo hinted as she disappeared particle by particle, "We're already in the prologue of the story dear, if you want to stop us I suggest you better do it soon." with that she left them with a confounding warning that had Allen, Lenalee and Kanda wondering just how much time was left.


	34. Letter and a Kiss

A/N: That naughty Tyki has come out to play in this chapter! And new secrets will be revealed! Enjoy and review!

Chapter 34: Letter and a Kiss

She felt the crinkled edge of the paper on her fingertip, her eyes roamed the soft cursive that was written across the envelope in her name. She had already felt that the letter wasn't going to bare good news so she had refrained from opening it so she wouldn't have to suffer sadness again. Mei had slipped the letter into her pocket before Lavi noticed she had it and had kept it with her since then. She didn't exactly have time to read because of the constant traveling in Germany. Now she had time, the privacy of getting her own room was surely a sign telling her to open the letter. Mei slid a finger down the flap and made a small slice so the letter would fall out accordingly. She picked up the thin paper gingerly and began to read the words printed neatly on the lines.

_Dear Mei,_

_By the time you read this I'd be gone, back to America that is. I wish I could stay longer for your sake, but I can't. Duty calls. I know you're angry right now with me leaving so suddenly and without saying goodbye, but it's really for your own good (since you're such a crybaby). I would like to be there to stop yourself from pulling out your hair in a fit, since I know you would be at this precise moment reading the letter, but I'm not there to scold you to stop your tears, so I'm sorry. It looks like you're finally able to spread your own wings and fly, you don't really need me anymore. You're not the little girl that I met so long ago that needed protection all the time. You've finally found something worth protecting, in so have made you stronger and I'm really proud of you. I'll always be here for you no matter what the circumstances are, whether you want to talk or cry just call me up and I'll be there as soon as I can. Even if I can't be there in person, I'll always be thinking of you and praying for your safety and happiness. About that boy... Lavi's a nice kid, a bit energetic and I know it gets to you sometimes but look on the bright side, you're practically glowing in his presence. He's changed you in ways that I sometimes can't even recognize the old you anymore. Mei, that boy loves you as much as I do, so give him a chance... Just like you did with me, except I know with me I'll always be the older brother figure and nothing more. I don't mind, as long as I get to love you in any way, I'm satisfied. Be happy, smile like you've never smiled before, and laugh like it's your last. Always remember that we'll always be here for you at home._

_With love,_

_Alphonse Willis_

The tears were already choking up her throat when she opened the letter and it just came rushing out when she read the first sentence. They weren't exactly tears of sadness, but a mixture of anger and bitterness. Mei used the back of her hands to wipe the salty tears from her face, but they just kept coming. It dripped onto the paper making it shrivel a bit when she used a tissue to wipe it off. Though she managed a smile through her sob feast, "You're damn right I'm mad!" she said softly with a thump to her bed.

"Are you crying again?" a voice asked bluntly from her window, "You're much cuter when you're angry." Mei's head shot up from the letter when her eyes met those of Tyki Mikk's golden ones as he leaned against her closed window. His hands was once again covered in his pant pocket and he had that extremely intoxicating smile. Her hands dropped the letter that landed softly on the brown carpet floor, she didn't move to get it or attempt to run. "What? You're not going to scream?" he asked her teasingly. Mei folded her arms across her chest with a sour expression. His eyes darted at her bare legs that shone lightly under the moon then up her waist and then her stern dark eyes.

"Not exactly your cliche girl." she said in a monotone voice, her face told him that she was cautious of his motions and he loved the attention that she was giving him. Loved taking away other people's lovers as his own, it was much more fun when it belongs to someone else and he was just there to steal it. What can he say? He loved attention, craved it. He just can't live without the pleasures in life.

"Not as jittery as Lenalee, I like." he said looking at her from another angle, this one was oddly weak, but strong. He couldn't make out what she wanted from life or what she was looking for. This one was completely new to him as a new born baby. He slinked his way towards her with a grin forming on his lips. The girl's frown deepened with a glare shot at him, her legs crossed themselves over with one tapping in the air impatiently.

"What part of 'closed window' do you not understand?" she spat out when Tyki's hand shot into her sending her crashing against the wall with him pressing against her with his hard body. Mei couldn't bring herself to breath when she felt her heart ache from within. An actual ache like someone was squeezing their hands around it.

"This part." she heard him say defiantly when her eyes adjusted to the whirling world around her, she coughed out blood. "I can just rip your heart out this very moment if I wanted to, just like everybody else." he whispered harshly against her ear making her wince. His fingers tightened their hold in her, Mei's eyes went wide in pain before she attempted to fist her hands together and land a fiery punch at him. _'Innocence Invocate!' _He had seen it coming, he had watched her during that battle and anticipated what she would do in situations like this. His power as a Noah was plenty powerful enough for him to counter her attacks. Mei tried gasping for air, it was nearly impossible for her breathe anymore as she slumped over in exhaustion. She couldn't fight with him strangling her heart like this, his soft laugh entered her ears before reaching for her face to look at him.

"What I would give to kill you and watch that boy suffer, too bad the Earl wants you alive." he told her lightly placing a kiss on her cheek then her lips. In her haze she felt his lips press gently against hers when her body reacted strangely to the touch of a Noah. Mei tried desperately to push him off, but he wasn't letting go. She felt like dying, a man who literally has her heart in his hand and her only source of air. Mei blinked back tears when her whole body tingled and fragments of pictures came floating back like pieces of a puzzle to make a whole in her mind. It was her memories... from that murderous night in which her mind had subconsciously suppressed. Why was it resurfacing now of all times? Tyki... This Noah, couldn't possibly be the sole key that can show her the past, can he? She needed to know more, see more when she felt her hands that were trying to pry him off loosen their grip. Mei kissed him back airily with her lips working their way across his as another piece fell into place in her mind. Tyki felt the change of persona in the girl the moment she stopped fighting him, he unexpectedly freed her heart and reached into her hair to pull her closer placing his other hand around her waist. She felt so feverish under his constant cool touch like ice to hot water and she couldn't stop herself from the longing in her stomach. Slowly the picture formed as a whole, with each touch and kiss of the Noah, there was an answer. Her hands clutched tightly on his back and he kissed her in ways that should be illegal, sending her mind into chaos. It was almost there, all the answers that she needed was almost complete. She took an sharp intake of breath when his hands slid up her legs making an illicit moan escape her lips. He kissed her again, it was then the last piece of her memories came flooding back.

----

12 years back in New York

'"Mei! Come here! I want you to meet someone." her mother's voice called out from the living room. It was those rare occasions where both her mom and dad had time off from the Order so they would come down to grandma's to have tea. Today was particularly special as she has heard they were going to have another guest for the day. Mei bounced in with her long curls and big dark topaz eyes and ran to her mother in giggles. She had inherited her mother's hair color and face structure, the only thing that resembled her to her father was the dark topaz eyes. Her long frilly dress made her look like a doll and in her hand was a teddy bear that her father had given to her on her 5th birthday when her mother picked her up and sat her on her lap. Mei looked up at a very tall man that had curly long hair tied in a loose but cordial way. Mei could tell that he was very handsome man as he smiled down at her gracefully, he took her small hands and gave a peck making her laugh. He seemed so normal then, with his pale complexion and dark mysterious eyes, he could've fooled everybody. The procession of tea under the cabana went accordingly with some laughs here and there, he had played with her all that afternoon.

"Mei, this is your father's best friend, Tyki" her mother announced giving him a big smile that earned him to nod a greeting at her, "Don't bully him too much okay?" she said playfully as Mei giggled. Her mother was beautiful and she knew it, she had those long dark lashes that brushed against her cheeks when she laughed and long curly hair that bounced around her face like a halo. She had the most amazing smile that was contagious all around and a happy personality that lit the whole room up when she entered. It was no wonder that her Innocence corresponded to that of light, her anti-akuma weapon was a golden bow that shot out light based arrows. Mei had thought of nothing less of godly. Her father was a well respected man that loved his friends and family dearly, always putting them first before anything else- including his own health if it came down to it. He wasn't as open as mother, but nonetheless caring towards everybody and everybody loved him for always being so kind. They were highly praised exorcists in the Order and she was proud of them everyday, fighting off evil monsters and bad guys. Mei's father was more mysterious than stoic, with his once dark brown hair bleached to a light sandy brown from always being under the sun and dark crystalized eyes he wielded the magnificent 官刀 as his anti-akuma weapon. Everything was perfect, like a story that didn't have a sad ending or had a happily ever after- it was going uphill. Who knew her world could be shattered to a million pieces over night.

It wasn't like she had meant to wander outside, she was just wondering where everyone went since she needed help getting the oil lamp turned on in the bathroom. They were suppose to leave in the morning to head back to the Order since they had a mission in a day so they were in a hurry. It wasn't suppose to end in a bloodbath, they were suppose to live! Mei rubbed her eyes sleepily and went to the bathroom to relieve her full bladder only to find herself too short to reach. She left and went to her parents room and opened the two large wooden doors to find the bed empty. Mei turned her small head at some sounds downstairs.

"Mama? Papa?" she called out from the stairs, there was another soft bang and some footsteps running, Mei made her way down the dark staircases and watched timidly as to where her parents were. "Mama...? Papa?" she called out again, but there was no answer. She saw someone run into the cherry blossom garden that grandma keeps on one of the acres of her land. Mei had thought it was her mother going somewhere, it was the only reason she left the house at all. She trudged her little feet across the cold granite floor before pushing the side door open to follow the shadow into the dark of the trees that covered out the scarlet moonlight. She remembered holding onto her teddy bear with much fright as she ran through the pink covered ground to find her mother. It wasn't until she reached that opening in the cherry blossom field that made that night so horrific. That opening where she had watched him kill her parents in a slow agonizing way under the blood red moon, she didn't understand it back then as to why, but all she knew was that he wasn't the angel she thought he was. She watched her father protect her mother till the very end, the very last second where his heart was ripped out of his body and crushed within the hands of that damned Noah, Tyki Mikk. His hair was disarrayed and his clothes were dirty from cut marks but she saw him smile that insane grin of his. Her eyes had grown wide in terror and she couldn't remove herself from behind the tree, all she could do was watch him pick her mother up by the neck and kiss her ever so softly on the lips. It wasn't the kiss that surprised her, it was the words that he said and the emotional agony that was revealed on his face that shocked her.

"I'm so sorry Esvadania... I don't want to do this to you..." he said weakly to her, Mei saw her mother smile at him and place a bloody hand on his chest. It left dark red streaks against his crisp but disheveled white shirt

"I forgive... Forgive you Tyki..." she said humbly, Tyki bit his lips and pressed forward his hand into her heart until the very last beat stopped between his fingers. He dropped to his knees and knelt over her crying like some slobbering baby.

"I'm so sorry..." he said over and over again before he stood up again and wiped away his tears. His face transformed to a shade of gray and crosses appeared on his forehead before long his face read nothing but evil. Her mother had smiled till the end, always with that bright attitude of hers... Mei dropped the bear in her hand when the rustle caught Tyki's ears. He turned and faced her with a surprised look on his face, she didn't know what it was, but it seemed like he was caught in his own thoughts before he grimaced and turned around with blood dripping from his hands. He leaped into the tree and disappeared into the crimson night. She had ran so fast that night that somewhere along the path she had tripped and fallen over into the soft pink petals that was scattered all around and passed out from exhaustion. The rest was history, the odd funeral, the Order taking her in as one of them, etc, etc. The world disappeared after that leaving Mei almost exhausted from the truth, now she understood why he had left her to live, why he couldn't bring himself to kill her. Everything was so clear.

----

Mei came back to reality to find she was still pushed up against the wall by Tyki ravishing her neck. A disgusted feeling overcame her body, she was really kissing the man that had killed her parents in front of her without mercy. No, no more. She'd seen enough, Tyki was a murderer that deserved Hell's worst punishment. She squeezed her eyes shut and fought back all the urge to just burn everything away. Mei parted her lips from his, trying to get him off of her. There was no need for her to go on with the kissing and the sudden lustful feelings residing in both their bodies.

"Stop it." she said trying to push him off, but was to no avail. She slammed her hands against his chest and forcefully pushed him off of her and scrambled off from him while readjusting her clothes, "Stop it!" she said through gritted teeth, "Was it the Earl that wants me alive... Or was it **you **that couldn't bring yourself to kill me?" she asked him harshly. Tyki wiped his lips with his finger and narrowed his eyes at with a smirk.

"You're really something you know." he chuckled with a shake of his head, Mei was tired of games that Tyki liked to play- she was already exhausted. He got off the bed and straightened his shirt and hair, "Really something... Why would I want to keep you alive asides from keeping me amused?" he asked looking at her with a sly grin, "Delicious..."

"Was it your best friend or the woman you loved that you saw in me that stopped you from killing me 12 years ago?" she asked point blank, Tyki's body froze, "You loved her didn't you? You were in love with my mother, Esvadania Rosencroy Li." she continued, "It was only a year after you had changed into a Noah, the human part of you still lived and still loved her- it was the sole reason why you cried for her that night. So miserably, like a baby." she emphasized the last few words to get his attention. He was on her faster than she could blink with his hand over her neck, his eyes weren't that soft gold hue anymore, but a solid cold yellow.

"That was years ago, I can't seem to recall any of those events." he said coldly towards her, Mei gave him a pained stare before reaching up with difficulty to cup his face with her hands.

"Then let me remind you." she said leaning up and kissing him lightly on the lips, to her the kiss meant nothing like the one that she and Lavi shared; this was for the sake of reminding Tyki what he had lost. Excruciating pain shot through his body as he keeled to the ground and looked up at her with angry eyes. Mei flinched and backed up against the wall, she slid to the floor in terror. He saw the images and the memories coming back like a rushing train going full speed into his brain.

"What have you done to me!" he shouted at her, Mei covered her face and shook his head, "Tell me!" he yelled aggravatingly that shook fear into her bones.

"Giving your memories back... Remember what it was like to love someone else, to care... What it was like to be human." she answered slowly looking at him, Tyki was clutching his stomach when he heard running footsteps approach her room, the others were coming. He clamored over to her and placed a hand over her head with a glare. Mei looked up terrified, she couldn't use her fire since she didn't want to burn down the hotel and she wasn't exactly in danger of a man who can't even stand up. She heard the doorknob jingle, but she didn't dare to look at it, she heard muffled voices then Lavi's penetrating the thick wood.

"Mei? Are you okay, Mei?!" he called out to her, Mei only gulped in response, "We're busting through the door." he said, they had about another 10 seconds as Mei counted in her head.

"I'm coming back for you and then I'll personally kill you with these hands... Just like your parents." he threatened before standing up and stumbling towards the window only to walk through it and disappear. Just at that moment the door cracked open and all 4 men piled through the door when Lavi saw a shaken up girl huddled against the wall. Her hands were cupped over her mouth and tears were streaking down over them like rivers. He didn't need a second calling to run over and wrap himself around the shivering girl who clutched to him for dear life. She needed no one else but him right now, she just needed someone to hold her.

- - - - x

Notes: Let me break it down.

-Mei is Tyki's key to the past since in this story its been stored away by the Earl to prevent him from remembering such atrocities between exorcist and Noah (which shall be presented later). While in vice versa, it's the same idea; Tyki is Mei's key to her suppressed memories. They're bound by skin and blood by Mei's mother that's why a mere kiss can set the memories that links them together free.

-The Chinese reads 'guan dao' which is like a large blade that sits on top of a long pole in Chinese martial arts weapons. What Ren uses in Shaman King... If you understand. O-o


	35. King's Castle Walls

A/N: And the fight begins! Please review! Thanks a bunch! (:

Chapter 35: King's Castle Walls

Lavi looked down at the girl that was leaning against him with a dazed look in her eyes, she hasn't spoken since last night when they found her crying her eyes out in her room. She ended up sleeping in Lavi's bed after much protest from his grandfather and Theodore about the appropriateness of a girl sleeping in a guy's bed. Though Lavi had pointed out that everyone was sleeping in the same room, it wasn't like he was going to do something perverted and with that he went on cursing them about doubting his integrity. They left it at that and had allowed her to sleep there. The whole night he heard her soft sobs as she slept muttering 'mother', 'father', and 'I'm sorry' every now and then in her dreams. All night he had held her to him and felt her cold hands hold onto his under the blankets, it was the saddest night he had ever had to bare. He wanted to cheer her up, but didn't know how when he felt her hand brush up against his unknowingly. He took it in his gloved ones and gave it a squeeze when the girl looked up at him in surprise. She just smiled as she closed her eyes letting the carriage ride take her to sleep. Bookman looked at the two and sighed through his nose, it was going to get messy if Lavi decides to get serious. He knows the rule to being a Bookman, was he really going to disobey the rules and suffer the consequences? He really was an idiot then.

"If she's a possible candidate for the Heart then there's no doubt that the Earl already knows, it's the only reason why he sent that mongrel of a Noah to come get her two nights ago in that village." Bookman said looking out the window with a stern glare. Both Krory and Lavi stared at him with intrigued thoughts, "We'll have to keep her safe until we're back to the Order and have this figured out. After getting the King to safety that is." Bookman added to the list. Theodore wasn't with them as he was to stay behind in case Komui decides to send message to the hotel since the palace only allows the exorcists to enter.

They arrived upon two large golden gates from the back of the massive house so they wouldn't attract attention when they opened up and allowed the black carriage in the doors. Mei glanced out the windows and squared her eyes solely on the the big building before her trying not to think back to the icky feeling in her head. Her heart was having a field day with the guilt that was festering inside herself. She felt like before anything has even happened she had betrayed Lavi in the worse way possible. That first kiss in that bedroom with that Noah was a fluke that was spurred by a second motive that made her do such atrocious matters. She had spent a good half an hour scrubbing herself in the bathroom that morning and another half hour soaking in the bubbles that floated in the bathtub of the lavishly decorated bathrooms at the hotel. Mei couldn't bring herself to say anything to him, she just wished that it would just all go away and she wouldn't have to think of it again, but she has a hunch that she'll be seeing Tyki very soon in the future. For now, she'll have to focus on the getting the King to a safe house before she could deal with her own problems.

They stared down. He stared up with glassy grey eyes. Lavi raised one brow and tipped his lips in a frowning manner. The kid just continued to stare up at them with those inanimate eyes of his. Lavi switched and arched his other brow at the child, Bookman gave him a whack on the arm and told him to behave. Lavi this time just frowned and pointed an index finger at the short, skinny, and fragile kid that stood in front of him.

"You've got to be kidding me." he said turning his head at his grandfather who shook his head making the long strand of hair that was sitting on top of his rather bald head shake. "The Prussian King is just a pint sized kid?" he snorted, "I was expecting a really old man or something." Mei gave him a stern stare that shut him up.

"The other king wasn't even that old, he was in the mid 30s, so don't be making random assumptions." she scolded him when she bowed at the child, "Sorry, your majesty, please pardon my comrade's immature remarks." The child just shook his head frantically and backed a away a little. Mei looked at him strangely and realized that he was a timid and shy type of person. She extended a hand towards him, "I'm Mei Chang, you must be Adler, the previous king's only son right?" she greeted softly, Adler looked at her hand then at the exorcist before taking her hand and shaking it lightly.

"Yeah... I'm Adler." he said shyly with a nod, the child was decked in gold and white like the pope of the Vatican only he didn't have the funny looking hat on his head. Adler had soft feminine features with light grey eyes that was covered with dark brunette hair. "Welcome to Germany exorcists." he humbly stated. Mei stood up from her bent position and pointed to the tall goofy looking boy.

"This is Lavi Bookman, and the older one is Bookman Sr., the one with the curious interest in your painting at the gallery is Arystar Krory the III." she introduced Adler to the rest of the group. Adler spied Krory from where he stood and smiled a bit, which surprised Mei since he looked almost too scared to actually smile. She spotted what the young king was looking at and noticed his fascinated interest in Krory. "Would you like to go meet him, my lord?" she asked happily taking the child's hand in hers as Adler followed behind with a smile plastered on his face. Mei turned around and mouthed something to the other two who gave her a slight nod and went on their way. "Krory!" the vampire like exorcist turned around from this examination of a painting and looked at Mei and the child in her hand.

"And who is this?" he asked politely with a gentle smile, the child shied away from the brooding exorcist when Mei pulled lightly at Adler to show his face properly.

"King Adler, the previous prussian king's son." she stated simply when Krory's face turned quite petrified at what he heard, he immediately fell to one knee. Mei had to keep herself in check before she let the fit of giggles fall from her lips as Adler went forward and ordered him to stand again with frantic hand gestures.

"P..Pl.. Please, don't do that. I hate it when people do that. It's frustrating. I'm just a kid, but everyone treats me like I'm 45 or something. I just wanted someone to talk to!" he blurted out, Krory and Mei looked at the miniature king and suddenly burst out laughing, Adler's face turned red so fast that he had to fling himself into a ball on the ground to hide it. Mei reached a hand out and patted Adler's shoulder as she wiped a tear away from her eyes and Krory recomposed himself from the sudden laughter.

"Don't you feel much better now that it's out in the open?" she asked him, Adler just sat there for a moment before looking up with an embarrassed expression. "If that was what you had wanted, all you had to do was ask. We are your people, we work for you." she said with a smile. Adler's face drooped back down into his arms, Mei retracted her hand and looked at Krory. Did she say something wrong?

"I don't... Want you guys to be my friends just because you're obligated to, I want friends that I make on my own because of me being me. I've been cooped up in this castle since birth that I don't really know what's it like out there. I don't know how to make friends, I can barely retain my nervousness when I talk to strangers... I'm a failure when it comes to social events." he mumbled out from beneath his robes and arms. So that was why he seemed so fragile and timid, the boy hasn't even stepped foot outside these castle walls since the day he was born, always being protected has made this boy mush instead of a strong king that the people needed. Yet, she understood a father's concern to protect his son, especially at times like this when the Earl wants him dead. She kneeled down so that they were at the same level and patted his shoulder.

"Your father is just trying to protect you, that's all... I'm sure, one of these days, you'll get to travel the world and see the beyond. You'll be a great king, Adler, I can promise you that." she said softly to him, "Now about those paintings, you want to go around to take another look with Krory here? He knows a lot about them. Most knowledgeable guy I know." Krory stared at her with a flustered expression, he was about to protest against the idea when she looked up and gave him a serious glance. She had to get the king away, even if it was a brief moment- they needed all the time they could get themselves to search the place first. Mei looked up at Krory and gave him a nod when he exhaled a breath, he had never actually shared his thoughts about ancient paintings with anyone, but if it was for the sake of the mission then he'll have to do it. Adler lifted his head a little as Mei and Krory smiled down at him gently, Mei took his hand and helped him stand up as Krory took over and lead him down the hallway pointing to different painting that hung on the walls. Each one they stood and examined with their own comments and assessments as Mei silently slipped into the darkness and disappeared.

Mei turned around into the throne room when her eyes roamed the large area, it had a ghostly presence about the place and it was unnaturally cold as she shivered. Even in her thick Order uniform she was cold. Her footsteps echoed strangely empty in the room, there was no guards and there was no fluster of maids and butlers or whatever you call those people that doted on the king. There was no lanterns in the throne room, the only light came from the one large window at the left side of the room leaving the place a bit lonesome of sorts. She rubbed her hands together to gather some warmth when she entered into the hallways, the walls were decorated with large tapestries that had stitched pictures of hunts and gory war tales. Mei crinkled her nose at the images that was shown before, must not be Adler's choice in picking out these things. She looked around some more to see expensive vases that were worth millions of dollars and embellished rooms that were intricately decorated with time and a lot of maids. She couldn't find Bookman or Lavi as she traveled around the large castle, it was almost impossible to finish in a day in this mansion of a place. Mei was walking down the rest of what seemed like the west wing of the castle when she spotted two guards with their spears and shields in their hands. They were huddling in the dark and muttering about something when she approached them.

"Excuse me." she said tapping one of them on the shoulder, they jumped in fright when they heard her voice and turned around. Mei stepped back, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you there. I was just wondering if you saw an old man and tall boy with red hair come by this way." she smiled. The guards didn't say anything when their eyes squared in on the silver crest on her left shoulder. They looked at each other when their lips grinned broadly in ways that made Mei feel uncomfortable. The two circled her from front and behind when a gun was suddenly pointed to her face that protruded from one of the guard's faces.

"Look what we have here, an exorcist all alone in the King's castle." it crooned, Mei gritted her teeth. Akumas, she should've known from the beginning this place wasn't safe. Just when she was about to activate her Innocence the one from behind caught one of her legs and pulled making her fall to the ground. Mei slammed into the ground with a thud as the ground cracked from the pressure, she looked up angrily at the two guards that metamorphosed before her eyes into two level threes. One had on dark red armor with a piercing spear in his hand and the other was a dull tan one that had rais in his hands with a devilish grin playing on his face. The one with the red armor extended his free arm and caught his fingers around her throat as he picked her up kicking for air, their speed was incredible, which meant Mei has to act a step faster or else she was dead meat to them. He flung her against one wall then the other making her cough up blood, the pain was surging through her body and her mind was going numb. "Kill! Kill! KILL!" they screamed in unison as they slammed her against the yellow walls once more, the walls finally gave in from the previous attacks and crumbled. She was now in a separate room what seemed like the grand ball room as she tried to get up from the rubble.

"Inn... Innocence... Invocation!" she yelled struggling against his tightening grip. Her hands instantaneously came to life with fire as two whips appeared at her command, her feet combusted with flames in another second. Mei flung the fiery whips at the two, the akuma who had her throat let go in reflex of dodging. It cursed at her and threw her a powerful blue ball of electricity, the tan one flung his arm up and also made a throwing gesture when a dark force appeared hurtling towards Mei. The two balls mixed itself together to form a dark electrifying attack, Mei took a deep breath and closed her eyes to concentrate all her power into her feet. She felt the ground beneath her rumble as the ball of energy came forward, a second before it hit her she leaped into the air in one powerful jump. It nearly grazed her face as she swooped over the attack as it destroyed the room making a large hole in the room which seemingly connected itself to an old library as books tumbled from the shelves. Smoke and more rubble was strewn across the ground as Mei landed lightly on one of the tall shelves at the other room when she heard coughing from below. Her eyes darted itself into the smoke, she hadn't considered that people were in here and might have selfishly made them victims.

"Damn, that was some attack." a voice picked itself out from the lingering dust in the air, Mei smiled at the voice as a red head appeared standing on an extended hammer. He coughed and dusted himself off when he saw Mei looking down at him with a smirk. He spotted the blood against her pale skin when he frowned, "You started the party without us, don't hog all the fun, Mei." he pouted sarcastically with a swipe to his nose.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself." she countered with a grin, her eyes once again focused themselves before her, "Where's Bookman?" she asked. Lavi pointed a finger to the air above them when she looked and saw a ball of spike above her head hovering like an iron fist. The needles opened up and Bookman appeared before them with a grim look on his face as always.

"What do we have?" he asked her as the smoke settled, she spotted the two akumas just a little before them throwing around their attacks trying to find them in the rubble.

"Two level threes. Shall you and Lavi handle the tan one and I'll take care of the red one with the spear?" she asked with an excited smile on her face, "I'm not completely sure what their dark matter power is, but seeing from their attacks so far, one has the ability of electricity and the other is darkness." The two akumas spotted the exorcists and laughed loudly as they saw that two more has appeared before them. Mei fisted her hands and threw a punch at the flying akumas when hot red flames licked themselves against their armors.

"Is that all you exorcists got? It's pathetic!" he screamed at her, Mei gripped her fingers harder and landed a kick on his face. The akuma made a grab for her leg when she ducked and left a dent on his side. The akuma dodged her attacks one after another as she pushed herself to go faster even though her arms and legs were killing her in pain. Mei propelled herself back and landed on a mountain of broken walls heaving with every breath.

"Mei, don't push it." Bookman warned her, her looked up at the old man that was sending out his needles with an acknowledged nod. She wiped the blood that was dripping from her face when she released her two fiery whips again and whipped it at the akuma, it latched onto his neck and leg as she pulled with all her strength. Out of nowhere the ground beneath her began to suck her foot in when her head shot up to look at the grinning akuma. She tried to pull her leg from the ground, but it was no use it just pulled her in faster.

"All you exorcists are done for," the red one spoke out trying to pry her whip away, "This is my dark matter power, the ability to contort area at my will."

"And mine is darkness that will consume a body and drive the mind insane." the other one said with a harsh laugh. Mei looked around her, Lavi's body was hovering in the midst of a dark orb and Bookman was sprawled across the broken wall, unconscious. At this rate, they were going to lose, fast, she just hoped that Krory was able to get Adler out of here before they realized that another exorcist was here. There was only one way she could think of of getting them out of here alive, but it was going to cost her.

"I'm sorry, guys." she said softly, she straightened her back and glared at the two akumas. She released the whips around the red one and had them form back into their respective flames as she closed her eyes again. _'Innocence...' _Her mind whispered, _'For the sake of saving my friends. Please.' _She felt the power flow through her veins, she knew the consequences, she's been warned already. Mei exhaled and opened her dark topaz eyes when the flames around her exploded sending the akumas flying. Her long black hair flew around her like strands of dark licorice as she took a step forward from the ground. The akumas growled in hate as they launched their weapons at her, her dark eyes darkened to a deep red almost. She was ready, even if it meant giving up a portion of her life, she wants to save them, she wants Lavi and the others to see a future, she wanted them to live. For that, she was willing to sacrifice her soul for it.


	36. Save Me from My Nightmare

A/N: I hope you guys had a wonderful holiday and a happy new year! I know I did! (: Okay, here's chapter 36! Read and review please!

Chapter 36: Save Me from My Nightmare

The ground rumbled and it shook like a war had erupted amongst the walls of the castle when Krory and Adler fell to the floor after a big one hit them. Krory's teeth began to throb uneasily as he sensed akumas in the vicinity of the castle walls. He pulled the child close to him with Adler clinging onto the exorcist for dear life. His face read of terror and fear as he shut his eyes to his surroundings, but the sound of things being broken and voices erupted from left and right had his mind in scrambles. Krory had to find a safe place for Adler to stay, he had to go to Lavi and them to help. He looked around to see men running from one end of the castle to the other as man in white came running forward calling out Adler's name. Adler heard his name being called from a familiar voice as he looked up and saw the man frantically looking for him when he suddenly stood up and yelled.

"Kai!" he shouted, the man with silver blonde hair looked over to where the crouching Krory and Adler was and a smile of relief came to his face. He ran over and hugged the small boy in his arms like he was his own son when he spotted the tall Krory standing nearby. "Kai! I'm scared, what's going on? Are people trying to kill me again? What did I do?" he cried and the man named Kai soothed the boy with gentle rubs to his back as he picked him up and looked at Krory.

"You must be the exorcist that we've been expecting, sorry I wasn't there earlier to greet you-" he started when Krory cut him off abruptly.

"There's no time for an introduction, take Adler to a safe place, anywhere that's not here. There are dangerous demons after his life, I need you to take him somewhere where they can't find you and stay with him until we come find you." he instructed clearly when the ground shook again and they all stumbled, Kai held onto Adler tightly and nodded.

"I know, Komui Lee stationed me here to look after his majesty several months back when he noticed strange numbers of akuma sightings. He got worried and sent me here first, I know my job." he smiled wryly, "Good luck." he stated before running off with Adler in his arms, Adler looked at the shrinking exorcist that he had come to take a liking to.

"Promise to come back, Mr. Exorcist!" he shouted over the booming attacks from the other side of the castle, Krory smiled and gave the child a promising nod before disappearing into the dust.

----

Blood was seeping through her sleeves and was dripping all over the floor as she held the two akumas back, her legs was beginning to look like a pencil being sharpened too often as deep cuts were appearing over her body from her over extensive use of her Innocence. Mei coughed once then twice as blood pooled through her cut lips. She fell to her knees with one hand gripping her stomach and the other still trying to hold them back. It was getting harder to breath like her own lungs were set on fire as she looked up weakly at Lavi who was still captured in the ball of darkness. If what the akuma said was true, then Lavi was fighting for his life right this second, fighting for his own sanity. She couldn't possibly do two things at the same time, she needed help. Damn Lavi for getting caught! Mei had managed to severe a leg and an arm from one akuma and sliced a large wound on the other as the fire was torching them alive, but it wasn't going to be enough to completely destroy them and set the souls free. The flames around the room was dying out from her exhaustion as her breath turned ragged and the akumas fell to the ground in a heap. Laughter rose from the burnt bodies which irritated the hell out of Mei, but she couldn't do much at this point to stop them. Her body was can't take another dose of a power release, at least she didn't maximize her power level like she did last time and so hadn't jeopardized her life completely.

"So close exorcist, seems like you couldn't do it. How sad." it taunted at her, Mei bit her own tongue to stay conscious of what was going on and winced at the pain that shot through her body, tears dripped from the corners of her eyes when she blinked. "Don't worry, you'll be joining your friends in no time." he said pointing to Lavi and Bookman.

"Like hell I am!" she shot back angrily, she wasn't about to let these ignorant beasts take her down. The two akumas rose to the air with their remaining power when the air began to crackle alive with electricity and the pressure of the dark power was being compressed into one attack again, this time Mei knew it was much more powerful and there was no way in hell was she coming out unscathed. They launched the ball at her and Mei shut her eyes tightly when she felt someone whizz by and grab her, they flew into the air when the attack landed on the ground and a loud cracking noise could be heard as the room their were in was completely obliterated. The walls crumbled from the pressure and the ground broke to millions of pieces beneath them. She saw Bookman fall in slow motion almost when she pointed and shouted for someone to save him. Mei felt her stomach lurch forward when they sped up and the next second she saw an unconscious Bookman next to her.

"Tsk, tsk. I thought you three could handle a couple of level threes on your own." he insulted lightly, Mei frowned when her hands covered her mouth.

"Too... Fast, Krory." she mumbled through her fingers with her face turning green. He settled Bookman and Mei down on the ground of the King's garden when he looked up at the broken castle walls. Mei sighed, "You think Komui will pay for that?" she asked with painful expression. Komui had told them not to break anything if possible since they only have so much money to spare on repairs. Krory looked at the girl with a serious stare, Mei gulped- he wasn't the timid Krory anymore, he was the superhuman, vampire like exorcist Krory.

"Hadn't the Head Nurse warn you not to push yourself too hard?" he asked her with a dark look in his eyes, Mei just stared at the ground before raising her head to look at him.

"There was no other way, what was I suppose to do?" she asked angrily, he just shook his head at her with a sigh before running and leaping into the air to finish the job, leaving an angry Mei and unconscious Bookman behind. "Damn it..." she muttered. She stood up and started limping forward when a blast of cold air knocked her down again, "What the?" Something had fallen from the air and landed almost on top of her when she opened her eyes to see a hovering Lavi in the midst of a ball of darkness. "Lavi...? Lavi!" she shot up from the ground and started banging on the walls of the large sphere. "Wake up! Lavi!" She called out desperately. She noticed a large crack on the side and staggered towards it, the force of the other attacks on the akuma must've weakened his hold on Lavi's dark prison. Mei placed a hand over it and activated her Innocence.

_'Innocence Invocation!'_

Flames wrapped themselves around her hand, the smell of oxygen being burned reached her nose in a heavy scent, with a jolting force she increased the heat and watched the crack glow orange from her fire. While Mei tried her best from the outside to reach him, Lavi was stuck inside the realm of universal darkness.

Lavi opened his eye and looked around, he was definitely not in the castle anymore. He was somewhere completely different, the sky was dark and filled with lightening. There were massive stone walls covering from one end to the other and leaning against the stone walls were grotesque paintings with screaming expressions on each canvas. Each one was like its own little hell. Lavi ruffled his hair with both his hands in frustration, _'Not again!' _his mind screamed at him. He told himself he was done with world traveling, he remembered fighting an akuma and the next thing he knew he was here. Something about the akuma's dark matter power had sent him somewhere else. He slowly walked down the hallway, not far off he could see a black ocean glistening under the shattering lightening as he made he way down. It was getting colder each second he walked along this stone way, he had to find a way out before it was too late. Lavi's head turned frantically around when he heard running footsteps, a shadow disappeared behind him.

"Hello?" he called out, but no one answered him, "Hellllllo!" he yelled again, but silence greeted him. He started jogging after the shadow that caught his eye earlier and made a turn at the end of the labyrinth, he saw the running figure disappear at another turn and he, of course, followed. Lavi didn't know how long he was running when he saw the figure flit into a doorway on the left. There was light coming from the room and there were multiple shadows this time, he cautiously stepped towards it with his right hand on his mallet when he slowly approached the point of entry.

What caught his nose first was the scent of blood, the heavy smell of iron and rust greeted his senses first and he coughed from the thick aroma of it. His stomach flipped from the disgusting air when he leaned against the wall for support and stuck his head to take a look at what was causing such nasty smell. Lavi wasn't prepared for what was to come as his mouth fell open in aghast and his eyes widened in horror. He didn't know what to take in first, but the scene was purely a bloodbath. The floor was splashed in the red liquid that washed around their feet and their hands were dripping with it also. Lavi wanted to hurl, but couldn't bring himself to as he stepped around and faced the entrance with a ghost white face. A familiar face turned around and greeted him with a smile, a horrendous smile that was decorated with blood splatter.

"Lavi, so nice you can join us today. Please come in, come in. I was just finishing up here." Komui said brightly with a knife in his hand. Lavi shook his head, he couldn't breath and he couldn't take his eyes off of the victim on the chair. Lenalee's stomach was cut wide open with all her organs shifting and moving, her pale face was in shock as she looked over and reached out her hand at him.

"H..He...Help me, Lavi!" she gasped out. Lavi took a step back when Kanda appeared from the dark with Allen at his side. They were dragging something behind them that groaned, Kanda's face rose itself to the light with a cold stare. Komui continued on Lenalee like she was just some experiment, he gave Kanda the same bright smile.

"Ah, you're back. Did you find her, you two?" he asked putting the knife down and clapping his bloodied gloved hands. It was too much for Lavi to handle, he felt like he was going to snap soon if he kept watching. It seemed too real to be an illusion, with the smell and the screams that was coming from Lenalee's lungs.

"Yeah, we found your second test subject. Here." Allen said coldly thrusting another girl forward. Lavi's last breath was caught in his throat, her long dark hair was tangled in the blood splattered floor and her small body was scattered with deep cuts everywhere. It was really her crystallized eyes that caught his attention first, those same eyes that made him finally break. He screamed, he felt himself scream so loud in protest that he thought his lungs were going to explode from the pressure. He just wanted to kill himself now to end this god forsaken misery, he couldn't do it anymore. Tears dripped themselves down his dead left eyes as he sat there on the cold stone ground motionless and devoid of life.

"Come on," she bit her lips in concentration. She felt it in her heart, she felt the urgency of Lavi calling out and screaming inside there with pain. He was suffering so much, she just wanted to save him this time if she could. "Damn it!" she screamed thumping her flaming fist at the dark walls that protected Lavi's body, "Why. Won't. You. OPEN!" she yelled, slamming both fists onto the crack. It was though lightening had struck itself down onto the crack when a loud snapping noise reached her ears. The force sent her flying backwards as she skidded on the ground, Mei looked up and watched in fascination of the crack getting bigger and bigger with pieces falling off it like glass. It finally cracked a hole big enough for her to climb through, Mei didn't take another second and started running, she clamored through the hole in haste when she stood and looked around her surroundings. It was pitch black in here, with the exception of the gigantic crack on one side that revealed the outside world.

His body floated there like a some fairy tale princess being put on a spell by the wicked witch, except this time the roles were switched. Mei stumbled forward towards his body with an out reached hand when a shock retaliated at her and sent her falling backwards. She gritted her teeth once more and stood up, she walked close enough to see his face and gasped a little. Blood was dripping from his pale lips and his eyes were wide open, but it was a cold, lifeless green instead of the bright humorous ones that she recognized.

"Lavi..." she stuttered helplessly, "Come on, Lavi... Get up." she uttered through hiccups of tears that were falling from her dirt encrusted face. She reached out for him again as the shock struck her body once more, she bit her tongue to reel her mind on something else instead of the pain. She had to get Lavi out of here, she wiped away her tears and began to pull his body towards the open crack. The electricity that was surging through her was cutting her already deep cuts even further as the blood rushed from her wounds, but she wasn't giving up on him just yet. Every pore on her skin felt like they were burning, the electric shock shook her body down to its core. Mei bit down on her lower lip, with another forceful pull, the two tumbled near the exit. The electric attack alleviated itself from the two leaving a gasping Mei on the ground, a groan came from the unconscious red head and Mei sat up to look at a bashed up Bookman.

"Lavi...?" she whispered lightly, his eyes this time were closed and Mei sighed leaning against the walls of the sphere. Her energy was drained and she didn't know if she had enough power to get herself and Lavi out of the hole, they were so close too. She looked at the boy on her lap and made a painful wince. Her hands flew to her side that was losing blood faster than she could stop it, she was going to lose consciousness if it continued. A shattering sound echoed in the darkness, Mei looked around and saw that the sphere was breaking into pieces and smiled. "You did it Krory, just in time." she let out with a sigh, she didn't know what else to do, but her arms found itself around Lavi and she held onto him, "Let me save you this time..." she whispered into his ears. The sphere shattered and the two began to plummet towards the garden below them.


	37. The Way of Destiny

A/N: I hate my internet sometimes. D: Laggest thing in the world these days.

Chapter 37: The Way of Destiny

Krory wiped his mouth of the akuma blood that was smeared all over his lips and grinned, he was able to dispose of them quite easily, but they had fought back quite resiliently. His foot rested on a pile of rubble and looked down, he spotted a large dome like thing in the air and watched it with curious eyes. The dark sphere was cracking and finally it completely broke into a million pieces. Krory's eyes narrowed on two falling bodies, his eyes widened, it was Mei and Lavi! There was no need for saving because something spectacular happened at that very moment. Krory had the intentions of grabbing them both when he felt a rush of power being emitted from the two then a warming feeling like he was sitting by a fireplace at night. He didn't know what really happened that night, but there was light, a lot of light that came from where Mei and Lavi were falling. When the light died out, he saw the most magnificent thing he's ever seen so far in his life time, next to the time he witnessed Lenalee's own Innocence act up. A large bird like creature spread its wings out into the darkening skies like a majestic beast and cawed out it's solemn song. It slowly receded until only the wings were left sprouting out of her back like some fiery angel from the heavens. The setting sun behind her made it that much more saddening as if something was going to end soon, Mei landed softly on the ground with her arms still tightly around Lavi when she opened her eyes and blinked in a blank daze. Krory landed next to her with quizzical look on his face when she put Lavi on the ground.

"You saw that right?" he asked her, Mei blinked at him some more and shook her head at him, "That bird thing and the wings and the fire..." he motioned with his hands flapping like a bird, Mei held in a giggle, then burst out laughing.

"No, what are you talking about?" she laughed, holding her stomach that was still bleeding and winced, "Ow, shouldn't laugh so hard." she muttered under her breath.

"It was a phoenix, if you're wondering Krory." Bookman's voice came to, Krory turned his head to look at an old man sitting against a fountain. "The same one that showed up back at the village. That's why her Innocence is called Phoenix Fire. We must report this back to Komui as soon as possible." They heard a thump when both their heads turned and saw Mei on the ground with dizzy eyes, Krory smothered a laugh. "She really over did it with herself, I wonder how much time is left..." Bookman uttered to himself. A pain shot through Krory's body making him kneel down in pain and gasped, he had taken a bit too much akuma blood from the fight and now his body is going to have to shut down for a moment for it to process in his system. He looked back at the injured Bookman and winced a grin.

"Seems... Like you're going to take to take it from here..." he breathed out before falling over unconscious, Bookman snorted. Great, all the young people gets to sleep and leave the old man the job of calling for backup.

----

"She's a possible candidate too?" Komui said leafing through the files that Bookman had reported in, he sat on the small stool next to Bookman who was sitting up in the hospital bed back at the Order. Krory and Lavi were in the same room sound asleep in their own beds with beeping machines next to them. Bookman nodded with his bandaged head, "I worry about that girl, Bookman. The results are coming back negative, I don't know what to do. I can't bring myself to tell the others, Lenalee will be devastated." he shifted his glasses so the glare covered his troubled eyes. "How much time will there be left until it's too late?" he asked with a melancholy voice.

"We have to respect the girl's wishes, Komui." Bookman told him, "We promised that we won't say anything, until she was ready to say it herself. She knew the consequences from the start of being a parasitic type conformer, there was nothing stopping her from becoming an exorcist. This is the fate of those that serve God."

"Then God is a cruel essence." Komui stated blandly with a frown, "I worried the day she came in for evaluation, after hearing Hevalaska that day made me want to protect each and everyone of them even more. The prophesies that these children bare, I can't even begin to imagine what life is like being an exorcist at such a young age. Watching your comrades die on the battle field, I would've lost my sanity a long time ago." Komui said sadly with a smile that held so much pain, Bookman understood. It was hard watching your own children fight until their bodies were covered in cuts and bruises, and it must be double the pain to know that all you can do is sit and wait at home for them to come back.

"We learn to bare when you're an exorcist." Bookman told him softly, "Prophesies are just prophesies, their destiny is still their own to make and mold. Their own choices is what makes those prophesies exist in the first place." This is why he never allowed Lavi to be the recorder for new exorcists, Lavi was still young and still making choices of his own, but already his heart is starting to open up more in loving his exorcist side. It'll pain him in ways that he'll never understand because he's started looking at everyone as his friends instead of just a piece of history. Bookman already knows that the old Lavi is gone, ever since the battle in the ark and that day he saw that girl in that dingy cafeteria hall, he knew the Bookman Clan's history would be changed. Lavi wasn't going to go back, because he has something to fight for on this side now- something that's worth more than his own life that he's willing to protect. As a member of the clan, he was disappointed in his successor as a Bookman, but as his grandfather and watching his grandson grow up, he couldn't help but be happy that Lavi was able to find something worthwhile in life instead of just witnessing man slaughtering man in war zones. He hadn't absolutely wanted Lavi to live a life without emotions, every child deserves some type of love whether it was a mother's love or a lover's love- in this age of darkness, they all need some kind of hope.

"_A child with an unwavering fire, you are a soldier that will give your heart for the Order. Beware, dear exorcist, your Innocence may be your very undoing, but it may as well be the one thing that will save you..._" Bookman recited delicately from his memory, Komui raised his eyes to look at the man that had just announced Hevalaska's words about Mei the day she went in for her evaluation of her Innocence. "I think we already know which path she has decided to pick, Komui." Komui didn't say anything, he just tightened his jaw in silence. "That child had a magnificent Phoenix guiding her that day, it was so brilliant like that beautiful green light that Lenalee emitted that night in the ocean. It was so sad, but yet so captivating to watch. Mei will choose her future accordingly, all we can do is watch over her right now."

"You said... that she couldn't remember any of the times that her Innocence acted up as a barrier to protect her?" Komui asked and Bookman nodded, "Strange, I'll get Riba and Johnny to get on it and see what the results are. We'll have to ask her what she does remember from those times." Komui sighed with a shrug of his shoulders when a moan could be heard from the other end. A banged up Lavi sat up with groggy facial expression as he rubbed his left eye with his bandaged hands. His face suddenly changed as if he didn't know why he was at the hospital.

"EHHHH?!" he yelled, both Komui and Bookman had to cover their ears against his scream with an aloof look on their faces. Having known Lavi for the last two and half years has made them pretty use to his sudden outbursts. Lavi looked from his hands back to Koumi and his elderly grandfather who stared back at him with blank expressions.

"Yeah, good morning to you too." Komui hesitantly said out loud to a awkwardly awakened Lavi who's still very shocked that he was in the Order's hospital. A rapid swish was heard when a pillow hit Lavi's face with full force, sending him back into bed like a wilting flower.

"Would you PLEASE BE QUIET MR. BOOKMAN." a voice grated out, Komui and Bookman suddenly had the cold shivers when their heads turned around like rusty robots. There at the doorway, stood a very angry Head Nurse with her demonic side showing like some evil possession. Komui hurriedly scurried out and Bookman crawled back into bed like a gopher on a rainy day. "MR. KRORY IS TRYING TO SLEEP." she continued to growl out.

"Mo, it's okay Head Nurse. Lavi's just in shock, he's an idiot." Mei's soft voice came in through the doorway when Lavi's eye opened again from the hit. The Head Nurse looked at the girl in white who gave her a cheerful smile, "Give me 10 minutes with him and I'll get back to bed, I promise." the girl said walking into the room with a large t-shirt and shorts on. The Head Nurse made a defeated face before sighing and nodded letting her in to see the others.

"10 minutes, then you're back in bed, Mei." she warned with a stern voice and Mei nodded happily. Her face was covered in small pieces of gauze and bandages when she bounded over to Lavi with a large smile. He looked up at her and grinned when she picked up the pillow from the ground and placed it deceivingly in front of them like she was putting it back on the bed. Her soft lips caught his in a breathtaking kiss as she leaned down and pecked him on the lips, he would never in a million years get use to that feeling every time she kissed him like that and to think that she was now all his. A wish, finally come true.

"Feeling better?" she asked slipping the pillow behind his head as she sat down next to him on a stool, the bright lights of the large lanterns filtered through the hospital room with the help of the sun's light. Lavi put an arm across his head and sighed through his nose, he closed his eye and tilted his head.

"I thought I was going to be stuck in that nightmare forever." he told her softly, Mei didn't really know what he was talking about, but she had a slight idea that he meant the time between when he was stuck in that dark sphere and the time she she lost sight of what she was doing during their mission. A part of her memory was once again gone, she didn't know how long she was out for, but she couldn't remember the time when she had reached Lavi to the time she reached the ground near Bookman. "I saw Komui and Lenalee... He was killing her in ways that was terrifying and horrendous. You were next..." he quivered slightly. Mei reached a hand out towards him and touched his arm, she gave him a doleful visage.

"I... I'm sorry." she didn't know what to say at this point, how do you soothe a troubled heart from a nightmare? Mei did what her mother use to do whenever she woke up crying from a dream at night, she gently wrapped her arms around him and stroked his back. "It was just a nightmare Lavi." she whispered, she felt him release a breathe through his chest and she smiled. "We're all here, it's almost impossible for Komui to even hurt Lenalee, not with that sister complex of his." she joked lightly, he chuckled and looked at her with a grateful smile.

"Thank you." he said kissing her softly on the top of her head, she shoved him back and gave him a wag of her finger, he pouted at her.

"I promised 10 minutes and no public stunts." she said with a seductive grin that made Lavi's body suddenly turn hot. The girl jogged out the door and closed it behind her as she made her way back to her own bed in the other room. Lavi finally exhaled and readjusted the collar of his shirt. Was it him or was it getting really hot in the room?

Mei closed the wooden doors behind her with a click and leaned against it with an exhausted frown. She wasn't able to talk to him this time around, she needed to talk to him about some stuff. Mei sighed shifting her head down to the ground, more like telling him something. She couldn't stomach the fact that she had made out with another man earlier in their mission, her conscience just wouldn't let it go. It was irritating, if she didn't tell him soon she was going to self-destruct from guilt. Footsteps echoed in from her left when her head raised itself unconsciously. Her eyes caught the whiteness of his uniform and that brotherly smile that he always gave her when he saw her, the same smile that he gave Lenalee whenever he saw her. So, she looked that much like Lenalee huh? Figures.

"Head Supervisor Komui, we need to talk." Mei stated gravely with a serious tone. Within the warm sunlight that rolled in from the windows it was strangely cold standing there facing her boss like she was encountering some difficult obstacle.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Mei." Komui smiled graciously at her, "Shall we?" he motioned turning around, Mei gave shot off a uncertain feeling before following the man back to his office where questions will be asked and answers will be needed.


	38. Finding Answers

A/N: Hello! I'm procrastinating on homework to type this chapter up! Hahahah! Such a bad student, I really do have a bad habit of it though. ): (Or more I don't want to do the homework because it's confusing. D: ) Okay readers! Review after you're done!

Chapter 38: Finding Answers

"Eto... Hmmm." Mei scrutinized her brain to try and remember what happened after she saw Lavi reach for her when Adelaide released her from her grasp back in Germany. They've been in Komui's messy office for less than a 10 minutes and already they were already into this game of 20 questions. She didn't really mind since she wanted some answers too, but she really couldn't remember. Mei shrugged with a shake of her head, "I don't know Komui, all I can do is draw a blank." she said leaning against the couch. Komui pursed his lips and nodded at her with his hands busy shuffling papers. Mei made a face at him, "You're trying to get out of paperwork with me aren't you?" she asked him haughtily and he looked at her with genuine surprise, but answered a bit too quickly.

"No, I'm not!" he replied pushing some papers off his desk and into the the already paper-filled floor of his office. Mei laughed into her hands earning her a meaningful pout from Komui, she arched her brows at him. "Can you tell me what you do remember right before it then?" he asked her. Mei cocked her head to one side and looked up at the shadowed ceiling above her head. She saw Lavi reaching out to her and she saw the akuma chasing after him and it was so close to him she knew that he was going to get hurt.

"I prayed." she narrowed her eyes in thought at the last fleeting memories came to her, the wholehearted feelings that she felt when she saw Lavi's face, "I prayed really hard that last second... To protect Lavi if I could. I prayed with everything I had, my heart, my soul... My body. I just wanted to see Lavi smile again, I didn't want to see him hurt because I was being clumsy." Mei answered looking at her hand, she bent her fingers and released it, "Then I blacked out. The same thing happened back at the castle... I just wished to protect and the next thing I know, every thing's fine and dandy." Mei glanced up at Komui who was staring intently at something in front of him when he looked up at her.

"Your Innocence protected you those two times, it took form of a phoenix and protected you until danger was over. Along with it Lavi, it seems like it reacts to your willful wishing, especially the strong fueled ones. It's happened in two other cases with Allen Walker and my own sister, Lenalee Lee. It's possible that your Innocence might be evolving soon, take caution of it." Komui warned, Mei blinked several times letting the information process in her mind. "I'm serious." he told her.

"I know, I was just surprised. That's all." Mei scoffed lightly, she looked at herself before a sad smile crept to her lips, "I'm not made to last am I?" she said softly, Komui looked up startled and pulled off his glasses with a stiff face. He pinched the space between his nose and sighed dejectedly.

"Don't say that, we can overcome this. Allen has." he pointed out with a ray of hope, he placed the thin rims back on the bridge of his nose with a swift movement. Mei just laughed her light laugh before crossing her leg over the other in an aloof kind of way and leaned against her right arm for support.

"You don't need to sympathize with me, I know what I'm doing, I knew the consequences the day I joined the Order to fight against the Earl. If I live or die, it doesn't really matter since I'm just a small insignificant piece of the world." she chided lightly with a smile, "I just want to make sure that the balance gets back in order that we have the upper hand." Mei's eyes never left where Komui sat when she bit her lips. "Now you have your answers, I want some too." she said furrowing her brows together, Komui let out another exasperated sigh and leaned back against his aged brown cushioned chair. "Renee lied to me, the Order lied to me for the last 12 years of my life. About my parents, about my life." she started and Komui shook his head.

"We didn't lie to you, you were 5 and it was the first sighting of the Noah since... Ancient Egypt, we just withheld information from you. You couldn't remember anything when you came to and you were so young, we didn't want to hurt you by forcing you to remember." Komui explained with a pained expression, Mei sat up straighter and looked at him with a disgusted look.

"Didn't want to hurt me? _Didn't want to hurt me_?! How much more pain than this can you protect me from? I'm a god forsaken EXORCIST Komui, how much more painful can it get?" she demanded with an angry voice, she felt her whole body quiver from the rage that was seeping through her blood. "You knew who I was the moment I stepped into your office that day 5 months ago, didn't you?" she asked trying to stop herself from destroying his office, not that it wasn't a disaster already. Komui placed his two hands together before his lips and stared at her with a complacent and stern stare.

"Yes, I knew who you were... We were briefed on your parents deaths that very night it happened, Finders found you in the midst of forest that night and brought you in. I know you're angry Mei, but there wasn't a lot of options left. We were so afraid for your safety that we took you in early as an exorcist even though we didn't give you your Innocence until you were older." Komui exclaimed through the heavy tension, Mei buried her head into her arms and stifled a growl.

"But 12 years, Komui? I think I'm old enough to understand now, why didn't you just tell me?" she prodded on with an angry aura. He knew she was going to ask about it sooner or later and he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "They said my parents died fighting akumas, not murdered by their best friend."

"You never bothered to ask, and the fact that you couldn't remember and us telling you would only destroy you from inside, so we didn't see the need in telling you. You would've understood it better since you knew what your parents were dealing in, so it wouldn't come as a surprise if their deaths were caused by akumas." Komui annotated with a brief pause in the middle to look at Mei who hadn't moved from her seat. "You were a kid back then, but you understood the risks of this war which included Death, but to be killed off by someone so close, we weren't sure you would be able to handle that kind of stress." Mei shifted her head and leaned on the arm of the couch to stare at the paper filled floor. "Renee only tried to protect you from more pain by keeping it from you, she told a white lie to save the little bit of hope that was left in you." Mei wanted to hear the rest of it, but she wasn't sure her heart was able to handle anymore secrets that the Order had kept from her. Her whole life she had believed that her parents were KIA by the akumas when in truth, the one person they trusted had killed them impassively like a monster. Komui saw pain and sadness flit across the young exorcist's face, he himself hated delivering bad news- but this was the worse he had ever had to deal with. A whole lifetimes worth of secrets was being revealed at this precise moment. What Komui really wanted to know was how, out-of-nowhere, Mei was able to remember such traumatic times. He was told that these kind of things hardly ever happens to post-traumatic patients. "How'd you know?" he asked her.

"Things happen, you meet people and unexpected results bare fruit." she said with a shrug of her shoulders, she exhaled through her nose. "I can't even trust you people... Who am I to trust then?" she said grumpily to the air above her. She was definitely angry, but she didn't have the energy left to fight with Komui or anybody else for that matter. Mei sat up again and stood up with an unreadable face, "I guess we're done here then." she mumbled walking away in her bare feet to the door, but before she exited she turned to Komui and looked at him with pleading eyes, "No more secrets, Komui." Komui gave her a small smile and nodded.

"No more secrets." he promised.

----

Mei shut the door behind her, she felt like she had done this motion over and over again. Each time a bad feeling would always descend upon her like a shadow of death watching over her. Mei shivered slightly before she dropped to the floor in ball form as she wrapped her arms around her legs. Exhaustion hit her hard and it left her almost breathless as she lifted her head to lean against Komui's office doors. She shut her eyes to the sunlight that was waltzing in like some form of punishment to her eyes, she groaned slightly putting a hand up to shield her eyes when she heard rushing footsteps come her way. Mei turned her head with a confused expression when her mouth fell open and her eyes went wide. A coat of cold sweat broke out all over her body when she heard the familiar voice asking for her. It was the Head Nurse! 10 minutes was definitely up like 15 minutes ago, she was really going to get a lecture if she was found sitting out in the cold. She scrambled hurriedly off the ground and began to run the opposite way. _'Crap!' _her thoughts yelled unbelievably loud in her head as she ran. Mei skidded at the round of the corner and headed down towards an unknown hallway that was filled with other Finders and scientists, they all gave her a strange look as she dashed away in a hurry. She wasn't sure if it was paranoia or if it was actually happening, but she definitely heard the Head Nurse's voice reverberating behind her. Mei opened the closest door to her and slammed the door shut with heaving breaths when she heard a jingle of metal from behind, she slowly turned around to see a blade at her face. Mei felt the air catch itself in her throat when a glaring Kanda was staring at her with much hatred, he must've just come back from a mission or else he wouldn't be this irritated.

"Yu! How nice of you to be back!" she said happily with a fake grin plastering on her face, he growled at her and pointed his weapon closer to her until it almost touched her nose. That was when Mei dropped the nice act and pushed his anti-akuma weapon away with a small thud, she frowned at him. "Fine, if that's how you want it, then so be it." she said coldly giving him a jeer from her sudden cold eyes.

"I would call this trespassing in someone else's room, so I have every right to protect it's sanctions. It's you, who on the other hand, is wrong." he told her with a bitter tone. Mei turned to face him with a surprised look when she glanced around the room, it was neatly compiled with everything was in place and the window drapes were pulled back letting in sunlight. The room definitely shouted Yu Kanda if anybody ever came into this room, a thin line of red stained her face a second later when she realized that he was in the midst of changing. But it wasn't his shirtlessness that caught her full attention, it was the large tattoo that etched itself on his left chest that had her scrutinizing it in detail. She knew that Kanda had some kind of tattoo on his arm, but she never knew it was that big with one single syllable in the middle. "What are you staring at?" he spat out putting on a shirt, Mei snapped back into reality and blinked at him in confusion.

"Wha-? Oh! I'm so sorry, I was running from the Head Nurse and came rushing in here without knocking and well, yeah..." she tried to explain without getting the ebony haired teen anymore angry than he already is. Kanda didn't say anything as he threw on a navy jacket and opened the door, and there standing outside the door was a very angry looking nurse with blood-shot eyes. Mei waved hesitantly from behind Kanda who gave her a bored look and pointed behind him.

"Back there." he simply stated and walked away leaving Mei with the nurse, Kanda had sold her out faster than a vulture on its prey. _'Damn you, Yu!' _her mind screamed at him with fists and all before she was dragged away by the ear. They both entered the hospital wing with Mei wincing in pain with the nurse still holding her by the ear, this was so embarrassing! She had watched other scientists and Finders snicker at her from afar as they rushed away making Mei feel that much more mortified.

"I'm sorry, Komui wanted to talk and I didn't think it would take that long!" she pleaded helplessly, she let her go and turned to face her with a look that said 'worried' and 'half pissed'. She sighed and placed a hand on her forehead as she slipped her hand down her face, giving Mei a defeated look.

"For a brief moment, let me be in charge, let me do my job. That's all I can do for you children as I watch you all fight until you can barely walk anymore. Do you understand how hard it is to watch you children suffer, I've seen Lenalee's pain, I've seen Lavi's burn marks, and I've witnessed Allen's extraordinary will to live. It breaks my heart to know that all I can do is sit here and wait for your return from your missions, so at least when you are home, let me tend to your wounds." she said sadly and for once Mei saw the the pain on her face, the regret of not being able to do anything pained her more than anything. Was it the guilt and regret that fuel people like the Head Nurse and Riba to work so hard? Was it because of them that they push themselves day and night to provide for them? She felt a warm feeling flood her body, a sort of feeling one gets when a mother hugs you on cold winter nights as she tucks you in at night. They were all worried about them in their own ways, whether it was severe hospital time or sneaking in friends to see each other, they all showed signs of love and kindness, Mei had to respect that.

"Okay." Mei replied curtly, she crawled back into bed and sat leaning against the headboard with a relaxed face. "No more running around for today." and the Head Nurse gave her a grateful smile before she went out the double doors. Mei reluctantly sighed in defeat as she sat there twittering her toes under the heavy sheets that smelled like fresh laundry when she heard a soft knock on the door. Mei tilted her head when Lenalee walked in with bright grin on her soft lips. "Heard you were back." Mei said watching Lenalee pull a chair next to her.

"I heard what happened from nii-san, are you sure you're alright?" she asked impulsively making Mei roll her eyes with a wave of her hand.

"I'm fine, is Allen alright?" Mei inquired with a brush of her hand through her long raven hair that had Lenalee sighing all over again.

"Banged up as usual, you know him." she smiled and Mei laughed, she opened her eyes wide. Wow, it's been so long since she's laughed like this, it felt so nice like she had just released a year worth of problems off her shoulders.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Welcome home, Lenalee!" Mei grinned happily at her friend, Lenalee's cheeks grew red before smiling and nodding.

"I'm back..."


	39. Raining Symphony

A/N: I don't own anything from DGM, if I could buy Lavi Bookman, I would do so in a heartbeat. (: Review please! I have the next chapter tucked away safely in my files, I'm just waiting for the right amount of reviews to come in before I update again~ So review, review!

Chapter 39: Raining Symphony

Ah, her soft figure glowing under that red moon that night was tantalizingly sweet to watch as he killed off his best friend and her husband. It had been delectable to rip his heart out and see them covered in their own blood. Yet, still she had managed to make those tears rise to his eyes that night, those pitiful tears that washed themselves down his oh so human face that was covered in her husband's blood. That feeling that flooded his own heart was too much to handle that he broke down in front of her, he loved her so much, but she was an exorcist and he was a Noah. It was forbidden and yet he couldn't help but watch over her like some ironic guardian angel. He wanted to see her smile, he wanted to stroke those beautiful pale cheeks, he wanted everything from her but couldn't get it because of their fates as mortal enemies. He kills what he loves, that's his motto. He didn't know how he had forgotten such memories of his first and only love, how he had forgotten the look on that little girl's face that night, filled with sheer horror and fear. The face that resembled Esvadania so much that for a moment he thought she was still alive when he turned to face her. The little girl that's all grown up and looking more like her mother everyday, the little girl with soft dark topaz eyes of Riku Ravenloft Chang.

Tyki blew out the smoke that was huddled in his lungs as he exhaled the toxic stuff from his body, he inhaled another puff from the cigarette that was between his fingers and placed his head between his arms. It was frustrating to know that he was once so in love with a woman he barely remembers when suddenly the daughter shows up out of no where to prove to him that he had a heart. He glanced up with his gold eyes towards the gray clouds that covered the once blue skies and stood there letting his mind wonder about the past. He was at the moment standing on the balcony of one of his brother's estates, the others were also invited to the house since Cyril was having a party that evening and wanted everyone there to celebrate it with him. It was going to be an agonizingly slow evening tonight, his main objective was to woo as many lady friends as he could so Cyril could have more connections, not that he didn't have enough as it is what with him being prime minister of a country and all.

"Tykiiiii!" Rodo's shrill voice came bounding from behind him when he felt someone latch onto to him around his neck, "Ne, Tyki- isn't about time you got dressed, father's running around like some mad man trying to get ready."

"What are you really trying to ask, Rodo?" he inquired blankly still taking a drag, the girl pulled herself tighter around Tyki and looked at him funny with a pout. "What? Can't a man ask?" Rodo sighed leaping onto the railings of the balcony and faced him, her scarlet dress ruffling next to him.

"You always think I have double intentions." she sulked, Tyki gave her a sour look before she stuck her tongue out at him.

"That's because you do." he told her with a forceful grin, Rodo jumped off and left him to his thinking when she turned around again, "Yes?" he said somberly.

"You were right, the Earl wants to see you- he seems a bit off about something, maybe because we're not doing our jobs again... But that always happens, we're not exactly the most punctual people around here it seems." with that she skipped away happily leaving an impassive Tyki behind. Tyki sighed as he pushed the remaining butt of the cigarette into the rail and watched it steam out smoke. He had a lot of questions to ask and yet he knew that no one questioned the Earl and his intentions, but he was a Noah, he had the right to know about his own previous life. His past seemingly was sealed off somehow and the only other person he knew that would want to keep such past away was the Earl, that meant they have a lot to talk about in their next meeting. Tyki stared into the vast garden in front of him before smiling to himself, he flicked his hand to let out a few Teases as he left to go change. His mind wandering back to a specific raven haired girl with dark topaz eyes.

"Interesting, very interesting." he mused lightly to himself as he disappeared down the hall with a laugh.

----

The rain came down like God's tears and it came down so suddenly too, the surrounding area felt a little more dismal than before. Everyone was rushing and everyone had somewhere to be, it was like they were trying to keep their minds on something positive to help them through the day. If she had a nickel for every frown she saw on their faces, she'd be a millionaire by now. None of them had picked this job to begin with, apparently God had chosen them, he had plans for them to fight as his warriors. She had always wondered what gave him rights to pit them against an adversary like the Earl and expect them to win. They were kids, like they know better, they could hardly control their hormones let alone the world's fate. Right now is suppose to be the best times of their lives and yet here they were fighting for their lives. She sometimes would look out the window and watch the lights twinkle from the city that lies before the Order and wonder what life would be like if she was normal, maybe her life wouldn't be as interesting and alive, but she wouldn't have to watch so many people die either. In the middle of her thoughts, Mei felt someone take her hand from behind when Lavi placed his chin on her shoulder lightly and kissed her behind the ear.

"Hey... What are you standing out here by yourself for? You'll catch a cold." he smiled lightly, Mei turned her head to get a better look at the boy and gave him a soft hug as she placed her head on the crook of his neck, the spot that she had come to love snuggling into whenever they had the chance to meet alone like this.

"Nothing, just admiring the view." she stated simply closing her eyes to the warmth of his skin against hers. She traced her finger down the side of his face to his neck then down to his chest when he took it in his and kissed it ever so lightly. Mei didn't really want to face reality, the part of her life that she thought she knew, but didn't really know since it was compiled of lies and confusion. She just wanted to stand here in his arms for a little longer if she could, savoring the moment when one knows that you're at a perfect stand still in one's life.

"Admiring the view? It's raining, Mei, there's nothing to see but rain fogged windows. You can barely see London from here and it's freezing out here." he said shivering a little, Mei laughed at him. It was that part of him that made it so easy for her to like him so much, the part of him that could make her laugh and ease away the insecurities. The part of him that wanted to make her believe in him because she didn't know what to believe anymore, she just wanted the suffering to stop. No more wars, no more fighting, no more of all this bullshit that they were dealing with. Lavi lifted his hand and softly stroked her long silky hair as he watched her hum a little with the rain, she was extraordinarily beautiful to watch like some mesmerizing song that has taken his full attention. He would never forget those gorgeous dark topaz eyes and long dark hair that caught his breath the first time he saw her behind Komui in the cafeteria.

"There's nothing wrong with a little rain, if you listen closely you can hear the symphony playing in the skies and falling rain. The way it hits the windows like soft mallets, the way the sky rumbles like the timpani and the clash of cymbals of the lightening. It's a beautiful melody, Lavi." she said quietly. Lavi was amazed at the way she saw things through her eyes, never once in his life had he looked at rain like that before. To him rain was rain, just another boring part of life. Rain had always carried a somber feeling, to him it meant nothing but death. He had watched men fall and die under the rain, he watched war stricken villages shatter, he watched Death consume everything in the name of war under the rain. To Lavi, rain meant nothing more than pain and suffering in his eyes. It was a miracle almost to know that this girl that was in his grasp right now saw something different in all the grayness that rain brings. To her, it was a melodious orchestra. "One of these days Lavi, when you don't feel so alone anymore... I hope you can hear it too." she said, her words burned itself into his mind like a rancher branding his cows. There it was again, he had never told anyone about his true feelings and yet this girl knows his one weakness. It was like all the secrets in the world couldn't be kept from her. He continued to stroke her hair rhythmically and gave a soft grin.

"Okay." he whispered into her hair. They didn't know how long they stood there, but it didn't feel like it was enough when they heard Lenalee's voice echoing not too far down the hall. Mei pulled away reluctantly and he let go hesitantly before Lenalee came rounding the corner looking for them. Mei gave him a small dejected grin when she slipped away from him as her eyes turned to look at Lenalee with a smile.

"I've been looking for you two all over the place! Jesus christ, you two never stay still do you?" she joked giving them a huffed expression, in one hand she had a clipboard and the other was on her hip. Mei punched Lavi's arm lightly before giving her a shrug, Lavi laughed and patted Lenalee's head which made her that much more aggravated. "Okay, enough! Komuinii-san's office, meeting in 10." she finally let out and Mei groaned in unison with Lavi, they both pretty much hated conferences. They got lucky with the report this time, but it seems like they won't be skipping the actual meeting. Lenalee gave them a retired stare of hopelessness, "No skipping." she warned. Mei shrugged walking away from the two, she waved one hand in acknowledging the warning.

"We'll be there, no worries." she said disappearing around the corridor bend, Lenalee turned her focus to Lavi and scrutinized him with careful eyes. Lavi was pushed against the wall with her demeaning stare, he furrowed his brows together with his arms raised.

"What? Stop staring at me like that, gives me the creeps." he shuddered, "Don't you have better things to do Lenalee?" he tried getting her off his case, Lenalee sighed also giving him a shrug before backing away.

"Remember to be there, there's a new task." she instructed, Lavi heaved a breath. They barely came home for less than three days and already they were assigned a new job already? The Order really doesn't sleep do they? "Come on, let's go." she smiled taking his hand. "I guess I really do have to babysit you two." she laughed making him frown in distaste. Lenalee pushed the doors opened and walked in dragging an unwilling Lavi behind her.

"Yo! Lavi-kun! Nice of you to make it today!" Komui's loud voice penetrated Lavi's skull in an irking manner. "Please, have a seat as we talk." Lavi gave him a face before plopping himself down on one of the extra couches. Mei had already been there from the start when she gave him a look with a brush of her finger to her lips. The moment that they had shared earlier slipped away as if it never happened, Lavi rolled his eyes at her earning a small laugh from her. Miranda and Marie were sitting the opposite side from Lavi together in the room was Kanda whom was sitting next to Mei on the longer couch. "Okay! So what do you have for me on your previous assignments?" Komui asked happily. Nobody said anything at first when Kanda clicked his tongue and glared off towards the corner. Miranda and Marie had nothing to say from the beginning since they were on active duty on something else while the others were away.

"A small village's been desecrated near Frankfurt, and the king's castle has been burned down from the fighting. I don't remember what happened to Adler, I left him to Krory's care after I came in contact with the akumas, you'll have to ask Krory. Asides from that, only several casualties from the village, all victims to Adelaide. The widow with the daughter named Lieselotte. No apparent motive to catch Innocence this time since there was no signs of it. I believe they were going after Adler by surrounding the castle and the outside borders with akumas ready for attack." Mei informed directly with a yawn, her hand rested itself on her chin before glancing at Komui whom has shifted his glasses in ways that made him look almost stoic.

"I see, nice work. Adler's safe with Kai, a member of the Order. I had my suspicions when his father died of akuma poisoning several months back, the public was told of heart failure to keep rumors down. Reason why I sent in someone to watch over the child, Adler in fact is powerless until he comes of age and I suppose the Earl intended to wait until Adler's old enough to take over since a body only deteriorates when an akuma's in possession of it." Komui explained carefully to the group, "But truthfully, Germany is very vulnerable right now without its king, that's why the Vatican will be stepping in to take things into hand."

"Oh, the Vatican. So they're sending in the big guys eh?" Mei muttered slightly without really pointing it to anyone. Komui turned to Kanda, he didn't say anything but he felt that Komui continued to press him for information.

Without turning his head he reported in, "We suspected Brokers to be within the city of Alexandrov. There were countless of people missing from earlier cases that the police couldn't handle and were dropped due to insufficient evidence. A Noah appeared shortly after we thought Randolph left, she brought along akumas. Residents were evacuated from the city, but the city itself didn't make it. They have majority control in Russia." Mei turned her head towards Kanda with gaping eyes and a dropped jaw, Kanda's left eye began to twitch before twisting around in fury to glare at her. "What?!" Mei backed away a little, but still gave him the same surprised look.

"Oh! That's the most I've EVER heard Yu-kun speak!" she mused with a clap of her hands, the room went silent before it erupted into laughter. Lavi was slapping his knees so hard it would've left bruises and Komui was slamming his table in fits of laugher. Lenalee burst into fits of giggles as Miranda and Marie tried to stifle their laughter so Kanda won't kill them later. Lavi laughed with a pointed finger at the angry teen who was by now fuming with rage. The raven haired boy suddenly stood up and walked towards the door when he turned his head to glare at Komui who coughed a little to regain his composure.

"Are we done here?" he gritted through his teeth, "And Mei, I thought I told you never to call me by my first name." he growled and Mei laughed a bit with a smirk.

"No, we're not. Your next assignment, Kanda." Komui directed, he flung a manila folder at him and Kanda caught it in his hands. He looked through it when his eyes went narrow, he raised his head towards Komui who gave him a knowing grin.

"An invitation to prime minister Cyril Kamelot's and his wife Tricia Kamelot's 5th anniversary party?" he read out loud from the file, "This is our next task? To go to a party?" he jeered a bit at the actuality of it.

"Notice the last name?" the glasses wearing supervisor noted with a secretive smile, Mei's heard of that last name before, she scratched her head to think a bit more when Marie's deep voice noticed the connection.

"Isn't the young girl Noah's last name the same? Rodo Kamelot?" he pointed out and Komui beamed at them, finally getting the picture. The room started to pick up as they all talked amongst themselves at the relative connection between the two.

"Guys! It's only a theory right now, Riba noticed this when a invitation was sent to a friend of his. I want Kanda to go and investigate it, see if it's true. If it is then you should be able to see the others." Komui exclaimed, Kanda just snorted and was about to exit when Komui stopped him, "Kanda." Kanda stopped and turned around again, "Mei's going with you, she's going to be your escort tonight." all heads turned to look at Mei who had a shocked expression on with a pointed finger at herself.

"Me? Why me?" Mei asked a bit confused at this point, "Why can't Miranda do it?" she questioned pointing to Miranda who suddenly looked surprised.

"Because if it's all true, and there are Noah's present in that house I need someone with a lot firepower. Miranda's Innocence by now you know, is a defense type of Innocence, and I need people who has offense type to counter the Noah's in case battle becomes inevitable." he elucidated for them. Lavi scurried from his seat and pointed a finger at Kanda with a incredulous face.

"Wait, why does Kanda get to go? I want to go to!" he whined at him, Komui patted the red head's shoulder with a bright smile.

"Don't worry Yu-kun will take care of Mei, won't you Kanda?" he asked looking at Kanda who just glowered away, "See?" he gave his shoulder a another hard slap, "You're too obvious Lavi, you'll be here in the control room with Lenalee as team B. Miranda and Marie will be following Kanda and Mei as team A, they will be stationed outside the house in case anything happens." Komui finished, he gave Lenalee a signal as she grabbed Mei and Kanda's arms and dragged them out.

"What-?! Wait!" the two sputtered out running behind Lenalee, they turned to look at Komui who waved at them with that silly grin on his face, a face that Kanda swears will tear to pieces when this is done.

"Have fun you two! Please hurry Lenalee! The party's dated tonight!" Komui shouted with glee. Ah, it was so much fun playing with those two!


	40. The Past

A/N: The only reason why it's up so early is because a friend of mine is apparently hooked and needs more before bedtime... LOLS. Okay. Read. Review. Thank you! OMG. 100 reviews! Yay! Thanks Ju-chan, Maze, Bellaxmonster, Kara-chan, Celedeen-chi, Jin-kun, Hyuuga-san! For a reviewing and making it this far with me!! I'm so delighted that I can't sleep.....! :O (The next few chapters will be updated between longer intervals... I really want to tell you why, but I don't want to spoil it for you guys. ^^)

Chapter 40: The Past

He slipped through the white silk shirt with ease and buttoned it up to his neck where he placed a dark red ribbon. He stopped in the midst of what he was doing and gazed at the spot where his stigma resided. A large cross that had etched itself on the base of his neck during the last fight he had with Allen Walker, when he decided to exorcise the Noah from in him. It hadn't worked out in their favor in the end.

He finished tying the ribbon and slipped on the black suit on top, he brushed back his messy curls and tied it back loosely. Tyki pulled away from the mirror to look at himself from head to toes; not bad for tonight, women could never resist a man with eloquence and status. He already had ladies flocking him for marriage proposals, a whole line of them were eating from the palms of his hands. He let a few strands of hair fall across his eyes and exited the room. As maids and butlers were getting ready for the festivities, Tricia walked in with Rodo beside her.

"Ah, Tricia, you're looking as lovely as ever. Are you still up for tonight's party, milady?" he asked, taking her hands in his. Tricia laughed her bell-like laugh and patted his hand. Tricia was a fragile lady, but all the same, still charming and beautiful.

"It's my own anniversary, of course I have to be there, dear Tyki." she told him lightly, and Tyki nodded. Tricia took a hold of Rodo's hands and led her away. "Come Rodo, help mama with the food in the kitchen." The two disappeared down the hall with laughter. Seeing Rodo only reminded him that he had to talk to the Earl soon. A maid came up to him with a smile and rosy cheeks.

"Lord Tyki, the Earl is here and requests your presence down at the garden," she informed him. He gave her a smile that had her blushing like mad before running off towards the other direction. He always found the maids quite amusing to watch when he did that. Tyki made his way down the curved stairs when his eyes caught the tall hat of the Earl in the garden talking to his brother, Cyril. Cyril was once again laughing brightly about something. As Tyki entered the vicinity, Cyril clapped his hands with a beaming face.

"I'm so glad you can join us, Tyki! Have you seen my adorable daughter, Rodo?" he asked pleasantly, as Tyki took a seat on the Earl's left hand side and patted the dog that bounded up to him. The Earl has taken his human form as he did every time he made a visit to Cyril's place because it was filled with humans and he didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble. "Tea, Tyki?" Cyril asked picking up the teapot. Tyki shook his head, still patting the dog's head.

"They're in the kitchen, brother dearest," Tyki said sarcastically looking up with a sardonic grin. Cyril immediately stood up and bounded into the house, singing like some frivolous school girl. The setting became deafeningly quiet with only the chirps of the birds and the flaps of their wings. "Well?" Tyki started looking at the excited dog that had licked his hands.

"What is it that you want to know? The forbidden emotions that you were harboring for that exorcist? You were a newborn, you didn't know better back then. I did what was best for you by sealing the atrocities that you created. I'm actually quite disappointed that you remember, Tyki-pon." The Earl spoke in his utterly scary happy voice, but behind it, Tyki sensed seriously bad vibes emitting from the all powerful Millennium Earl.

"You should've let me dealt with it. I turned out fine didn't I?" Tyki inquired a bit, stroking the dog behind the ear earning him a happy woof. Tyki leaned back into the chair and looked behind him where the Earl sat in the shadows. The Earl picked up his cup and took a sip of the Earl Gray before setting it back down to answer Tyki.

"I'm afraid that was too risky, Tyki-pon! Since then, you've had the habit of suppressing the Noah in you, letting your human side out as often as you can. You love those humans too much to actually hurt them. You're still a bit naive, but a very adorable child nonetheless!" The Earl said happily and Tyki gave him a frown of reproach.

"Don't tease me, Earl-sama." Tyki argued letting the dog eat a piece of his cake from the plate. The Earl leaned forward with his white gloved hands intertwined together on the table and glanced Tyki's way with a smile, yet his face was still covered by the shadows. Tyki shook his head letting his long hair weave into the wind. "To think I had let an 18 year old child wake me up from my slumber. Earl-sama, tell me about this woman named Esvadania." The Earl was still a bit unwilling to tell him everything, but since the wheels had already begun spinning, there was no use holding that part of his life back.

"Her name was Esvadania Rosencroy Li. She belonged to a prestigious medical family often called the 'Rosencroy Clan'. Very powerful people in the states, they controlled a large portion of the medical distribution factories. She worked with a colleague named Riku Chang and you were his best friend. She was a very lovely lady with a charming smile and bright personality and she was also very intellectual; could keep up her end of a conversation, you know?" The Earl laughed, his large body shook from the laughter. "Oh, it was really too bad to lose such a connection when she became an exorcist. It was about that time when you two met. The look in your eyes, I knew it was going to bring trouble in the end. You went to her every spare moment you had, whether it was tea or just to see her; you were head over heels in love with that wretched exorcist. You loved her so much that you didn't even say anything when you found out that Riku and Esvadania were getting married. As long as she was happy, you were happy for her. She broke your heart and yet you still loved her. Eventually, she bore a child that resembled her so much that it was scary, but even still you went to see her," the Earl explained.

The story wafted its way towards Tyki. He heard it and he remembered being there every moment of the words being said, yet he felt as though he wasn't really there. The heartache he felt when he realized that Riku had taken the only woman he had ever loved away from him was shattering. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to say anything because Esvadania was so happy, especially when she found out she was having a child. That sort of happiness, a Noah couldn't bring to someone that was meant to be his enemy. He had just wanted to give her everything she had ever wished for—a family and joy.

"I had given you time to forget about her, but time and time again you made foolish mistakes. That is why love is such a despicable emotion—it leads you on, then destroys you in the end. Plus, I had my fun with those two and their happy family, so I sent you in to get rid of them. You did a terrific job, except... I hadn't expected the young one to still be alive, Tyki-pon." Tyki could feel the Earl's gaze pierce his back, his fingers curled themselves around the dog's fur tightly in silence.

"Is it because she looked so much like _her_, that you couldn't bring yourself to kill the child? It was like killing her a second time, wasn't it? She was just too precious." The Earl pressed on, making Tyki shut his eyes to his taunting voice. It was true. He couldn't bring himself to kill Mei because she looked so much like Esvadania—the hair, the smile, the voice… it was too much. He didn't think he'd be able to kill her while looking into her dark topaz eyes all over again. It was like killing his best friend and first love a second time. "Just like the three companions I told you to kill. 'Eeze', was it not that child's name?"

Tyki flinched when he heard the name fall from his mouth, "They're too precious to you, too close, too personal?" The Earl asked with no hesitation at all, making Tyki freeze in his movements. He turned around with a sigh as he grinned like he always did when he wss caught doing something wrong.

"I suppose you've caught me," he laughed. The Earl sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before making several cards appear before him. He crossed out several names and added a few then made some other hand signals before making them disappear. "But... I promise I won't hesitate again. I intend to kill them when the time comes, for I, the Noah of Pleasure kills all that he loves."

"Then kill the girl that has awoken you, kill the child that the woman you once loved bore," the Earl commanded and Tyki tilted his head back with a smile.

"Yes, my lord," he answered. The Earl stood up from his seat and was about to head off when he added something else to what he wanted Tyki to do.

"While you're at it, please do something about the white haired child named Allen Walker. Use any method, just get rid of him please! He's like a fly that won't go away!" he called out walking away towards the front door with Lero in hand.

"Hai, hai." Tyki answered, patting the dog once more as it bounded away from him.

----

"Lena...Lenalee... Am I supposed to breathe in this?" Mei asked gasping out grappling towards the mirror in front of her as Lenalee pulled the strings of the corset. Lenalee laughed and finished it with a neat bow at the back. She went over and recovered the bright red dress from the closet and had Mei put it on. She zipped up the back and placed the beautifully decorated hat on top of Mei's now shoulder length curly hair that bounced around her delicate face. Lenalee stepped back and examined her work only to gush herself silly at the beautiful job she had done.

"You look so different that I hardly recognize you, Mei!" Lenalee crooned. "You're so gorgeous, if only you have more chances in wearing ball gowns than Order uniforms!" she joked, "All the men will be looking at you tonight! I'm actually kind of jealous you get to go, even though it'll be dangerous. This mission is a bit different."

Mei could hardly recognize herself either from the image that reflected back to her from the body length mirror. Her hands were covered in a fine black lace glove and her body was adorned with the most lavish dress she had ever put on. A bright red Victorian ball gown that touched the ground softly as she walked, laces bound itself against her back and bust making her female body even more prominent than before. The soft red silkiness of the dress made her feel like a princess. Her hair had been chemically shortened and colored by Johnny's experimental works so it was a shade darker than Lavi's own bright red hair, and Lenalee had helped her curl it just so that it fell around her shoulders in ringlets. Mei had side swept bangs under the hat that was put on her head at an angle, a hat that was decked with black and dark red roses and ribbons that cascaded down her back. Mei's dark topaz eyes were now that of a bright, sky blue shade. She was a completely different person than what she was before. Mei reached towards the mirror only to touch glass; she was still amazed with all the things that science could do.

"Is that really me?" Mei asked looking into the mirror over and over again like she was expecting something to come popping out of the mirror to tell her that it was all a joke. Lenalee looked over her shoulder and smiled at her before readjusting some ribbons on her back.

"Don't second to doubt yourself, Mei. You can be whoever you want to be... And that person looking back with such beauty is indeed you. Now go downstairs, my brother is waiting with the rest of the mission information and Kanda's already down with the others. I have to go get something that I forgot, I'll meet you downstairs." Lenalee said opening the doors to let her out. Mei stumbled before getting use to the black heels that she was forced to wear on this assignment's behalf.

"I can't walk in these! I'm not like you, I can't fly all over the place in heels, Lenalee." Mei complained with a pout. Lenalee helped her down the hall when she let her hand go near the stairs. Lenalee gave her on last squeeze before letting go and running down the hall leaving Mei to her own defense.

Mei turned to walk down the staircase in front of her where she saw Komui with a bright grin on his lips. Miranda and Marie were both giving her an awed look. She couldn't even bring herself to look at Lavi who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. She felt slightly embarrassed when her eyes caught a tall handsome man standing casually at the end of the steps; he had on a very formal tux and white gloved hands. It was his cold stare, straight posture and frowning lips that made her realize who he was.

"Kanda?" her voice slipped out and he cringed, which meant she was correct. "Oh my goodness, look at you!" she said walking around him in circles like a fly.

He had the same black hair except it had been shortened to a messy style around his head. He actually looked very cute with it on. His face was pale that showed off his now bright green eyes that shone through his dark hair that fell across his eyes.

A voice that shouted a loud 'strike!' on her left side made Mei turn around to see a flying Lavi hurtling himself at her with heart shaped eyes. Mei didn't have enough time to react from all the heavy clothing as Lavi glomped himself onto her like a large teddy bear.

"Helloooo~~ Cutie!" he whistled, checking her out. Mei's cheeks puffed themselves out in anger when her gloved hands met his forehead in a smack. "Ow!" he yelled, scampering away from her. Mei put her hands on her hips with a glare and the boy on the ground cowered at her from fright.

"It's me, you idiot!" she scolded at him, her dark red lips in a frown. Lavi stood up brushing the dirt from his clothes and stared at her for a moment when the realization hit him.

"Whoa! It is you, but isn't!" he said, hitting a fist into his palm. Mei sighed in resignation of his stupidity. "You're gorgeous tonight," he complimented with a smile, sending red flags into her cheeks. She turned over to Komui for the file as he handed both Kanda and her each of their own.

"Your identities," he told them. They opened the file folders and scanned the words listed. "Mei, you're going as 'Lady Fleur Rouge' from France, a student studying medicine at London, and Kanda, you're going as 'Lord Edward Wiltshire', a business man in the steel industry from London. Remember your characteristics carefully and don't stumble," he warned. Mei and Kanda nodded exiting through the doors of the Order. A dark brown carriage with cushioned red interior awaited them outside. It might have been an assignment, but it felt so dream-like; she had never been so dolled up before in her life and being able to ride such a luxurious type of carriage was beyond her dreams. Kanda surprisingly helped her up the carriage when it came time to go. Mei turned to look at Komui and the others that were there to see them off and gave them a smile.

"I won't let you down, I promise," she said, getting into the carriage. Kanda gave them a curt nod and shut the door behind him. Miranda and Marie clamored onto the sides and gave the others that were staying behind another wave as the carriage jolted forward towards a party of a life time that might just be more than they could handle.


	41. Ball Gowns & Champagne

A/N: Disclaimer: I don't own anything of DGM's just Mei, Alphonse and any other character that pops up out of nowhere that doesn't originally belong there. Okay, I'm donw. (: Let the party begin! Review please!

Chapter 41: Ball Gowns & Champagne

It was definitely nerve racking to know that she was about to enter a world that she wasn't familiar with. A place dancing with nobles and higher ups, it was where title was everything and power was the name of the game. She had to know how to manipulate people according to what she wanted them to think to get what she wanted. It was a confusing game and it was hard to understand it.

Mei only had a slight knowledge of what the scene was going to be from listening to other people talk about it. She herself had never been to one of those extravagant parties where men and women wore ravishing dresses and suits, donning evening gloves and tall hats. It was a first time thing for her and she was really nervous about it. She was a bad liar, always has been, and she didn't know if she was going to be able to pull this off. This task needed her to act and lie through her teeth and she was afraid that she was going to ruin it all for everyone.

Mei glanced over at Kanda who had been sitting in silence for some time now, making her even more nervous. She needed another human voice to keep her company. She could hear murmuring of voices above where Marie and Miranda sat. Why couldn't she get along with Kanda like that? Mei lamented at her awkward position with Kanda—they hadn't necessarily gotten off on the wrong foot, had they? Her first mission had been with him and if she remembered correctly, they had been arguing the whole time they were together. It hadn't been a bad trip; personally, she thought it was quite successful and she found Kanda rather amusing and quite enigmatic. He could be a little cold sometimes to other people, but that was just him. It was like asking why Allen had to be nice to everyone. Mei hadn't noticed that she was staring at him strangely when he turned to look at her with a quirk of his eyebrows.

She was slow, sometimes a complete ditz. He hated ditzy characters; they annoyed the living hell out of him. He also hated the way she was around Lavi all the time, the two of them laughing like some moronic buffoons. The world on their side seemed so impossibly bright that it irritated him when he saw them together. It was quite obvious that they were harboring feelings for each other and it disgusted him to no end. This was a war. There was no time to play around with each other like some married couple. Kanda didn't understand why he always had to be stuck with either Moyashi or her when it came to these missions. Moyashi had an attitude, and this girl was just annoying. She didn't have rules, she did things at her own pace, and she was too wild with that dark hair falling around her like a light veil. And those shimmering eyes… they always seemed to be sparkling with some kind of secret. It was bothersome to watch. Her fluid motions when she fought, or that brazen attitude of hers—there was something about her that he couldn't figure out. She was just too random and spontaneous. Kanda shifted his foot when his eyes darted outside in a glare, he couldn't stand the fact that he didn't understand; it made him uneasy.

Mei blinked several times when she heard Kanda move further away from her towards the window and she frowned a bit. Strangely, it stung her pride when he did that. She ruffled the ends of her dress that was scattered around her like a large flower petal and sighed. It seemed utterly hopeless for a conversation to start. The only sound was the murmuring of voices above them and the clattering of the carriage making its way towards the evening gathering.

Mei touched her new hair style and started prodding at her dress and hat when someone forcefully took her hands. She looked up surprised to see a pair of crisp green eyes glare at her from across the seat. He suddenly let her hands go and sat back down on his seat with a huff. Mei didn't understand what had just happened when Marie and Miranda's head popped themselves through the window. They had confused expressions plastered on their faces when Mei gave them a small wave that nothing was wrong.

Though she felt her heartbeat race against her chest when he got so close, it was the first time he had ever approached her like that. Mei leaned back against the chair and averted her gaze to the ground of the carriage. It stayed like that for the rest of the ride there, in complete awkward silence, a level worse than the silence they were having before. Mei groaned inwardly when the coach stopped and both their eyes spotted the large mansion from afar.

A line of other carriages were lined up from the front of the house to the large black gates that were opened to the guests. It wasn't long before the door opened and a tall gentleman greeted the two with a bow. Kanda hopped out first then extended his hand out towards her to join him; Mei was impressed by his sheer polite act as if this came natural to him.

A cover of gasps and murmurs erupted when she stepped out from the brown coach, making her face turn a bit red from all the attention. She opened the fan in her hand and covered her face as she hooked her other hand in the nook of Kanda's arm. Mei turned to look over her shoulder when she spotted Marie and Miranda making their way up to the ceiling. They'd be keeping watch from the aerial view while she and Kanda went inside to check things out. Mei didn't know what to take in first—the lights, the size of the house, or the vastness of the guests that were present at this party. She noted that a lot of important people were present in the room as she scanned the room with Kanda next to her.

Kanda felt strange without his Mugen by his side. Since this was a party, he couldn't bring it with him so it was with Marie at the moment. He narrowed his eyes at the people; there were definitely high titled people attending which meant that if the information was right, then the Noahs pretty much had an advantage in the political realm. He felt her hand squeeze his arm tightly. When he glanced down to see a worried face, he mentally tsked at her; she was panicking already. He let her hand slip from his arm when she looked up at him surprised. Her face was red and her eyes were darting from people to people. She was clearly amazed by the lavishness of this social event.

"Remember your job," was all he said before he slipped into the crowd and disappeared without another warning.

Mei felt her heart skip a beat when he left her all alone to fend for herself in the crowd. What was she suppose to do with all these rich white folks chattering about who knows what?! Mei took a deep breath and steadied herself and began to mingle with the older folks. It was surprising how easily it came to her to act out this woman named 'Fleur Rouge'. She had thought it would've been much harder, but it wasn't. It wasn't necessarily lying, it was pretending to be someone for a day and it was even kind of fun.

She chatted and she drank a little of the champagne that was being served as she kept track of all the people she talked to and tried her best in remembering their faces if she could. There was no sign of any Noahs in her view, but she shouldn't be so hasty just yet. Mei touched the gold earrings that were dangling from her earlobes when they crackled with service and several voices entered her ears in mere whispers.

"Mei, do you copy?" Lenalee's soft voice asked, overpowering the other sound in the background. From what she could hear, it sounded like Lavi and she just had to laugh.

Mei tilted her head a bit so that it didn't look to weird, "Yeah, over." Mei's voice entered through the earrings. It was a handy little device that Bak invented for Allen when he had walked through the Ark. Since the golems didn't work, they had to make something that was stronger. Mei heard a gurgle of noises then a smack before the line went silent for a moment. Lavi must've done something to the lines. She just sighed and sipped her drink in hand. Kanda was nowhere to be found. What a hassle this turned out to be, him leaving her the task of talking and plastering that fake smile on her lips like some doll.

"Mei." Mei turned at the sound of Kanda's voice radiating from her left side when his hand slipped around her arms and pulled her forward through a crowd of people that let out a murmur of protest. Mei gave them a curt nod in apology and glared at Kanda who pleasantly shot one back at her. "Come here," he _**commanded **_her. Never in her life had a man ever ordered her with such force. In fact, never in her life had a man ever ordered her with such power and menace; this was a night full of strange things. "Look."

Mei grumbled under her breath something about him being 'rude' and 'forceful'. Her eyes darted through her dark crimson bangs that shielded her eyes and searched the crowd at what Kanda was pointing at. The crowd was thick with dancing couples and serving waiters. What the hell was Kanda trying to make her see? She couldn't see a damn thing in the mess of people with large puffy dresses and long coattail tuxedos.

"I don't see anything, Kanda," she hushed with vexation. The corset was digging into her ribs, making it hard to breathe and she was sweating. Mei felt obscene just standing there in the midst of laughing politicians; she expanded the feathery fan and began to fan herself lightly with small swish of her hand.

Kanda just continued to inquire at the image before him with arrant absorption; Mei just surveyed him from where she stood. Before he could say anything again, a man in a gray top hat walked over with an older woman around his arms beckoned himself over.

Mei exhaled a miffed breath out behind her fan; she was definitely irked by his unsought companionship. It was bad enough that her legs were killing her from standing so much but she was positive that her bodily odor wasn't that pleasant at the moment. All she could do was kneel a short curtsy at the two whom nodded at the two's acknowledgment before starting to rant about who he was and what he did. The lady stayed quiet by his side with a halcyon smile on her dainty lips.

She reminded Mei of the little black sheep that always hid himself behind others because of his different color. Aberrantly beautiful with hazy gray eyes that were shaded over by her soft amber hair, the color even seemed sun-kissed in the glittering lights that showered them in the grand front hall.

"Who's your friend?" Mei asked on the spur of the moment, her hand flew to her mouth when the lady gave her a fleeting look of sheer surprise. "I mean, aren't you going to introduce her, Lord Byron?" Mei catechized with a sly smile that had the man tongue-tied; beauty was really a deadly weapon when used at the right moment. The exorbitant man pushed the frail woman forward, causing Mei to glare at him. She definitely didn't like the way he treated women, and his bumptious attitude couldn't get any bigger than his already excessively large self-admiration.

Kanda sensed a horde of bad vibes emitting from his partner when his eyes cornered hers that were glaring daggers at the man before her. Even at the peak of her anger, she was keeping her front with clear vision and concentration. He could see that she was clearly used to this or that she had a talent for deception. Kanda's eyes wandered over to where he stood surveillance over a particular man that caught his attention. A man that he distinctly remembered as the man he fought back in Edo, it was really hard to forget someone that wanted him dead. He felt Mei shift at his side; his attention wasn't really on the pig-like man that stood before him, roaring with a laughter that made Kanda want to hurl.

"It was nice meeting you, Angelina and Lord Byron, will you excuse me for a minute? I have to go to the powder room." She gently slipped in a charming, fake smile, so fake that it left a bitter taste in her mouth. It was amazing how easy it was to deceive these poor fools, not that she wanted to beguile Angelina, but her innocence was really too much for Mei. She caught Kanda's eyes which seemed to gleam dangerously under his short dark hair. "I'll be back in sec, this dress is killing me," she whispered, walking past him, leaving a rose scent trail behind her.

Mei hadn't stepped a few feet away from Kanda and the others when she bumped into someone on accident. She was pushed back a little from the force when she apologized deeply for not looking where she was walking. It was the silence that caught her attention when she looked up to see a pair of obsidian eyes peer back at her with much interest. Mei had to do a double take for her to be cognizant of whom it was that stood before her with a slightly worried expression. Mei mindlessly pointed a gloved finger at him with complete shock and disgust.

"You!" she shouted, landing all eyes on her when Kanda whirled around at his name. He caught his posture before it was completely discovered. Kanda's eyes grew a little large from the encounter. He, at that moment couldn't interrupt them or else it was going to seem strange. He just hoped Mei would be able to hold in her temper and get pass _that_ man without trouble.

Tyki fixed his gaze on the girl that shouted at him with surprise—a pale, gorgeous girl stood before him decked in blood red. She was one single soul out of the party that was flanked in such a vibrant shade of color as if calling for attention. Her dark ringlets bounced lightly underneath the hat that donned her small head when he caught sight of her glowing sapphire eyes. It was like a car had struck him from the side, knocking the wind out of him when he stared into those pools of water shaded orbs. Her cheeks were lighted with a hue of rose color that made her round face resemble a porcelain doll. He blinked several times when the music went on playing in the background, making the air once again light and entertaining.

Mei, for the second time of the evening, covered her florid lips with both her hands in horrible excitement. "I mean, y... you! You're Lord Tyki, right?" she played with her words hoping it would catch on, millions of thoughts were flashing themselves in her mind, trying to find a good excuse when her outer character jumped into play. That deceptive side of her that she had discovered at this party, Mei dipped a low curtsy at him and Tyki bowed still staring at her with a somewhat smug and delighted grin.

"I'm sorry about my sudden... outburst. It's just that you're quite popular with the ladies the here. You are the person they ever seem to talk about, I never thought I'd actually get to meet the famous Tyki Mikk," she continued flattering him with her delicate words. She felt the boiling anger inside at the pit of her stomach, the nasty side that wanted to just jump from her skin and strangle him. He was right there in front of her; she should just take this chance and kill him, but everything would just end up disastrous. This place had too many innocent bystanders to conduct a ruthless fight that might be killing hundreds. In the end, Tyki took her right hand and gently kissed it like any gentleman would. Mei tried not to shudder at their contact; it was a good thing she was wearing gloves. Mei retracted her hand and gave him a warm smile and turned to walk the other way.

"Wait," his voice called out and Mei mentally cringed as she turned around and fluttered her fan in front of her face a little with a 'Yes?' face. What she hated about Tyki next to him being the man who killed her parents, was that attitude of his that he carried around. He was fine looking and he knew it; he knew how to work those strong jaw lines and broad shoulders to make girls swoon at his presence. It grated on her nerves when the thought of him having so much control over females crosses her mind that she just wanted to hurt him. Not only that, but he was the guy that was making her feel so nauseous and guilty at that moment that Mei just wanted to go insane. She watched him approach her with such elegance that she was amazed that there wasn't anybody that second doubted themselves as to his perfection. No one was _that _perfect.

"Yes?" her voice dripped captiously from her seductive lips; she was using every technique in the book to fight against him. She became conscious of the fact that he towered over her with such intimidating force that a normal person would just collapse from his toxic aura. He was just a bit taller than Lavi, that cocky smile, that cool expression, what the hell goes through his mind when he sees a young girl fawning all over him? Not that she was interested or anything. Tyki screwed his face up a bit in thought. For a moment, Mei thought she was found out when he opened his lips.

"You're Lady Rouge," he pointed out, striking Mei dumb with amazement. Tyki couldn't see that it was her... Johnny, Riba and the others has done it again. Mei clasped her fan shut and gave him a knowing grin.

"So, you know my name too," she answered him with a soft laugh. Her dress ruffled themselves lightly from her movements as she turned around to face him. He greeted with another bow before slipping into that seductive mode that he was so used to using against girls to get his way with them, politically and status wise. Tyki seemed pretty shameless; he was making his status higher in society using whatever means he could.

"You're the talk of the party. Both men and women are asking who you are. They said they've never seen you around before," he said politely, but Mei could see that he was testing her. He had his suspicions already. Mei sighed as if she was disappointed at a particular thought when she looked up at him with her startling light blue eyes.

"I told them not to bring me uninvited; I was invited by an associate's friend. He said it was the party of the year and that I had to join him," she explained. The words just fell out of her lips like she was reading a script. "I'm sorry if I don't seem recognizable by the higher ups, I'm just a medical student studying here in England," she smiled sweetly. Tyki seemed surprised at her comment, then amused.

"Really? Fascinating, I didn't know that they were accepting women into the medical field. What school are you attending here?" he inquired yet again. At least his attention wasn't on scrutinizing her looks anymore as Mei slipped into the small chat she was unbelievably having with the Noah of Pleasure. They began to take small steps towards the grand stairs that led to the upstairs that was decked with other guests; Mei was walking further and further away from Kanda and she didn't feel quite right about that.

"At the moment, Oxford," Mei replied, picking up her dress to walk up the red carpeted ground. She could feel her feet aching from the blisters that she knew were upon her feet from the heels. Mei stayed silent from the pain. She couldn't blow it now that she was so close to her enemy; maybe she could even pry some info from him.

"But, I'm just going from place to place to learn about each and every different techniques that's being used in some departments," she summed up for him. They had reached the top when she noticed them taking a turn towards the balcony and she had a really strange feeling that something was up.

"From your name to the way you talk about school, it sounds like you're not originally from here," he stated coolly with a brush of his hand against her arm on accident. Mei suddenly felt chills spread its fingers around her body; she turned her head to look up at Tyki. To her astonishment, he had a calm and soothing face, not that hard image of a suave and charming guy he always seemed to put on.

Warm wind swept past her face, making her hair sweep from her shoulders. They exited out the doors that led to the balcony. The view took her breath away; city lights twinkled from afar like stars and the night sky had a tinge of navy and violet, it was gorgeous. Her hands gripped the metal railings softly and stared out into the sea of lights and night skies.

She was supposed to hate him, fear him even; he had every power to kill her yet here she was, chatting with him as though they had been friends for years. This unknown feeling of being vulnerable scared her and she didn't like it. It was too foreign and unexplained to her; her heart was in it, but her mind was somewhere else.

There was a part of her that couldn't bring herself to do it since he seemed... so human. That gentle smile was one that she had become so accustomed to—she recognized it because it was the smile that Lavi and the others always gave her. It was comforting in ways she didn't want to understand. He was supposed to be that cruel, barbaric, descendant of Noah, and vile man. He was not suppose to smile so gracefully like that.

"Parisian," was all she said before turning back to walk out the glass door. She couldn't handle it. If she stayed any longer, her mind would finally break from the confusion that had muddled her thoughts and judgment. Mei didn't want to stay long enough to find that she was going to do something she would regret; he was a Noah and she was an exorcist.

There was no stopping fate and there was no going back anymore. Their history was already intertwined and so was their future; sooner or later, there was only going to be one person standing.


	42. Hidden Wills

A/N: Disclaimer: I don't own anything from DGM. If I did... You don't want to know what I would do to Kanda and Lavi if I owned them... (X /// X) Hah! Well, here's the next chapter! Review please!

Chapter 42: Hidden Wills

She left him speechless and intrigued, her presence like a drug that he had become hooked on and needed more of. That slight floral scent, her strong essence, and graceful movements had caught he attention. That girl was different and strange; she was the first to refuse his advancements and the first that didn't swoon to his smile and charms. Her lips dripped of sarcasm whenever she spoke to him, her shocking cerulean eyes held so many secrets, and her rose tinted cheeks made her so alluring to watch. She was in itself a perplexity. The girl dressed in crimson, Lady Rouge.

There was a similarity between her and another person, but his mind was too fumbled with other things to think straight. He was still in shock that she hadn't fallen prey to him, and there was just that bit of anger that he had failed to capture another's heart tonight, but it was more his curiosity that bit at him than anything else.

Tyki watched the dark haired girl walk out the doors and to the stairs, and he followed a moment later to see her trotting down the steps. The ribbons and velvet sash weaved behind her like waves in an ocean and he just couldn't bring himself not to stare at her with amusement. He was going to catch her if that was the last thing he did.

Mei couldn't feel anything; she felt utterly numb even though her feet were screaming at her to stop. Her eyes moved itself upwards towards the ceiling covered in glass that revealed the star filled skies when she saw two shaded objects shift from her sight. She smiled; she was on in an assignment, that's all, nothing else. She tinkled the little earring on her ear and whispered a sign for Miranda and Marie to leave. They were done for tonight, or at least she hoped they were. The fact that there was a sign of Noahs meant that they had political ties to some very powerful people. She had to report them to Komui as soon as possible.

Her steps took herself to Kanda without really having to tell herself to. It was as if she was seeking his company, seeking something that would tell her that she was not in this hell hole by herself. Mei witnessed that apparently she wasn't the only one attracting attention. Kanda was being flanked by dozens of other girls both young and old. He was definitely in trouble; he was trying his best not to be that cold and hard person he was so used to being as he took a step behind him and pry their arms away from him.

A bubbling feeling was erupting from her stomach when a giggle slipped past her lips. Kanda heard the familiar laugh when he peered over his shoulder, his face didn't change from that emotionless state, but his eyes told all. The relieved state that revealed itself from his charcoal eyes told her that he needed help. Mei obliged and walked over in the most poised position that she could when the group of girls' eyes stared at her with surprise, even jealousy.

"Edward! There you are! I was looking all over for you! I hope you were able to get the news that you were looking for," she hinted at him, meaning as much information as he could've possibly pried from these women. Mei gave them all a small acknowledgment before linking her arm through his and pulling him from their grasp.

"Evening ladies, I hope Edward was able to keep you all entertained tonight, but it seems we must take our leave now. Please enjoy the rest of the party." She smiled genuinely at them, causing mass gasps from each of their lips. Before Mei and Kanda could leave the premises someone grabbed her around her wrist and pulled her around. Mei's own watery blue eyes were met with angry brown ones that flashed dangerously under her curly blonde ones. Another girl had pulled at her, possibly one that was acting on behalf of her jealousy of knowing 'Edward' and that she had called him by his first name.

"Who the hell are you? And what are you to Edward?" she demanded. That was why she hated nobles, especially young nobles. They were raised in an environment where they thought they were the king of the world and got pampered by adults day and night. They always ended up having no manners whatsoever.

Mei's patience was wearing off for the night and she was about to snap. She took a deep breath before saying anything. She could feel Kanda's annoyed presence because he was squeezing the life out of her arm.

Kanda huffed; he couldn't deal with these empty headed idiots that seemed to be everywhere. They were all so agitating—this whole mission was. He was definitely going to kill Komui when they get back. He was about to open his lips when Mei's voice interrupted him. He glared down momentarily where he saw her eyes gleaming that intense flame that rose when she was at battle.

"It's Lord Wiltshire to you, and what he is to me is nothing of your business. Now if you'd kindly let go of my wrist, I wish to go home," she answered with a hard voice, but her smile was still there, which gave her that ominous aura that had the other girl flinching.

Even with the imminent force that was being emitted from Mei, the other girl didn't let go. She actually tightened her grip on Mei's wrist making her wince a little.

"Who do you think you are? How dare you talk to me like that, you low-class nobody!" she hissed venomously. Something snapped. He didn't know what it was about the situation that called for him to react the way he did. It was possible that he felt like he owed Mei for saving his sorry ass from that pathetic group of women or that he just couldn't stand being so useless watching the girl who saved him being called 'low-class', when he thought the taunters were the ones that were 'low'. Kanda grabbed the girl's wrist and forced her off of Mei when her eyes shot up at him at him in distress. "Wha... What!" she stuttered.

"She said let go," he seethed bitterly. There was a moment of dreading silence that had others look at them with concern. They had to get out before they started a riot with the nobles; she didn't want to be found out just yet. The girl was frightened by Kanda's dark ambience; the other women had already backed off from them when Mei placed a hand on his arm.

"Edward, I'm alright. Let's just go," she said softly next to him. Kanda sighed a breath and let the girl go. They could feel all their eyes on them as they left, but that was alright. They could judge them all they want; it wasn't like they were going to see them again.

They escaped the pestering eyes and stuffy room and exited into the night air as Mei inhaled a large breath. She didn't know cool air could feel this good to her body.

Her arm was still interlaced in his when their carriage was brought up with Marie and Miranda inside who waved at them with covert smiles. "Thanks." Mei smiled at him as the doors opened up for them and she climbed on. Kanda made a sound that showed his ever endless annoyance to the world and glanced off to the side.

"Whatever."

----

'Click', the line connecting them to Mei went dead and Lenalee looked over to the wires to see if something had been moved when she saw Lavi's large booted feet on the table. She shoved his feet off the table and shot him a stern look, he fell backwards from the force and was scattered onto the messy science department's floor.

"Lavi! Your feet just messed with the connection!" she scolded, going over to his side to readjust some things, her slim fingers pressing some blinking buttons. Lavi sighed taking the earphone that was on his head off. He didn't want to be here, he hated sitting around and doing nothing all day. He had to busy himself with something! He didn't even remember to bring a book with him. He was _**bored**_.

Lavi Bookman hated being bored. The red head watched the girl shift from one place to the other busy doing something. He sat up from the floor to glance around him, the other scientists were busy yelling something incoherent and complex that it just sounded like gibberish to him. He pushed the chair back into position and stood up placing the earphones on the table to stretch his body. They had been sitting there since Kanda and the others had gone off onto their mission.

Lenalee looked back at the boy who seemed to be off somewhere in his own world, she sighed at him before lifting her headphone off and placed them around her neck.

"Want to get some coffee with me?" she asked with a grin on her lips. "That way, you will have something to do while we're still waiting for it to connect through."

Lavi showed his pearly whites at her and together they went out the busy building and towards the kitchen. Lavi stared down at the raven haired girl and gave her a skeptical look.

"You're not worried?" he asked her. Lenalee gave him a quizzical look before shrugging her shoulder at him. Their steps echoed in the hallways that seem to intensify their speed in a figurative way.

"I am, but I know they'll come safe. It's just a party right? Brother told them specifically not to start a fight, plus the Noah's aren't stupid as to start a fight where it's full of important people." Lenalee told him with her hands folded behind her. Her shoulder length hair glistened in the dim light as they continued to walk. Lavi grinned a cat-like grin before pinching her cheek with his left hand.

"Awww! Our Lenalee is all grown up!" he cooed, making her cheek glow red from his fingers. She slapped his hand away and he burst out laughing. Lenalee folded her arms across her chest and frowned.

"To think I thought you had matured, I take that back." she huffed at him. Lavi brushed aside some tears and tilted his head at her. He didn't understand what she was talking about and she furrowed her brows at him. The way he was giving her that stupid look of his really made her want to smack his head sometimes.

"You mean you haven't noticed?" she said with a curious face. Lavi shook his head making his long red hair flap uncontrollably. His single green eye sparkled with eagerness to know what she was talking about. Lenalee flicked his forehead leaving a red mark in the middle of his forehead.

"You like Mei don't you?" she asked suddenly, Lavi was taken back by what she said when he felt the heat climb its way to his face and Lenalee giggled. "You may be a Bookman, but you've always had a crappy way of hiding your emotions," she said with a sly grin, making Lavi turn away from her.

It was funny making him cringe and blush since it was always Lavi that was pulling the strings with other people. When the table was turned, she felt pretty powerful being able to push his buttons and hitting the target. "What's wrong, Lavi? It was a bull's eye wasn't it?" she teased him continually.

He didn't know what to say. He didn't want others to know; was he that obvious? He didn't want his gramps to know of the forbidden things that he was doing. He was supposed to be apathetic to the things around him, including people, but he couldn't. Mei drew him in in ways that other girls couldn't. He didn't know what it was, but every aspect about her attracted his attention. The weird thing was, he knew he had a bad habit of flirting and drooling over very appealing girls, but when it came to that long raven haired girl, he would just stumble, get tongue-tied, feel jittery and uncontrolled. He forgot how to be that silly Bookman that he had always tried so hard to be; just her presence could shake down his facade and reveal him as an insecure and dejected individual.

Mei had always seemed to be able to see through him, no matter how he smiled or how he laughed, she saw all of it. He didn't want to lose her closeness, her warmth, her lips, her feel; he'd do anything to protect it, even if he had to lie.

Lavi turned his head to Lenalee and smiled that famous smirk of his and gave her small punch to the arm. "No, I just think she's cute enough to eat, that's all. We're exorcists after all, we need to focus on work! Lenalee shouldn't be thinking of such things right now! Or I'll tell Komuiiiiii!" he said loudly, "Perverted thoughts!" he laughed running away.

Lenalee's face suddenly changed complexion, from rosy to complete chalk white as if she has been caught doing something horrible. "Lavi!!!" she screamed, her voice bouncing off the walls of the hallway, making people turn around to stare, "You little...! ARGH!" she stomped her foot on the floor before giving chase to hunt down the Bookman. No one surpassed her when it came to speed. The short haired girl was gone in seconds leaving a trail of flying papers behind that escaped from the others that were walking down the same corridor.

His heart was pounding from the running, but he felt alive; his face was flushed from the constant breathing and the rushing blood that he felt coursing through him. He didn't want to think about anything else, the thought that people wanted to know felt like he was tainting something special. Even if it was Lenalee, Allen, or anyone else, he wanted this to be for himself, something he could keep preserved for his sake.

He brushed his hair away from his face, his head band falling and dropping around his neck. He put his hand on his knees as he gasped, his mind swirling with adrenaline.

Before, when he first joined, he had tried everything to shut out his emotions—that was what his gramps had taught him. He had to learn to forget the things around him; eventually they would all fall and disappear into the shade of darkness to be forgotten. There was no point in trying so hard to be accepted when in the end, they were all going to leave it behind.

Then he met her. She listened to what he had to say, and she listened to his opinions. She was somebody that cared about what he saw and would try her best to soothe his pain. That girl woke him up inspired, and he wasn't about to let it all disappear from his grasp.

He heard a loud whoosh of wind come from the other end of the pathway and grinned; Lenalee was bound to catch up real soon. Lavi's right hand automatically lifted the small hammer from its holder that was fastened around his right leg and put it up before him. It grew to a massive proportion when Lenalee came flying towards him with a livid face.

He pulled the hammer back like a bat and took a swing. There was a loud crack as though something had snapped when Lenalee's boots collided with the face of his mallet. Wind, pressure, and force were scattered around them like a tornado had hit when Lavi grinned and continued to push with everything he had. Lenalee had grown stronger since the last time they had sparred in the training room and he was grateful that right now he had something else to think about.

"OY!" a loud voice cut in sharply; it sounded a bit pissed and angry when Lavi pulled back and Lenalee dropped to the floor with a surprised facial expression. Both their faces stared up at the man on the stairs with a heavy grimace on his lips. A half burnt cigarette was hanging from his lips when his hands placed themselves on his waist to stare down at them. His white lab coat was rumpled and his blue shirt inside was wrinkled beyond reason, the dark circles under his eyes were more apparent then ever. He seemed like he hadn't slept in days.

"If you want to break things, just wait until Komui signs you another mission. I don't want this place to be falling into pieces before we even get to get settled properly. By the way, you've got a message coming through." Riba pointed with a thumb towards the science division. "Aren't you two suppose to be on duty?" he asked suspiciously.

Lenalee and Lavi glanced at each other, Lenalee's face fell. She couldn't believe she just acted so immature! She wanted to slap herself for falling for Lavi's jokes. Lavi laughed hesitantly before walking slowly away then started to run back to his station with a somber Lenalee following behind him. Riba scratched the back of his head and sighed making his cigarette drop to the cold floor beneath him.

"Kids these days," he muttered turning around and disappearing into the darkness of the doorway.

His head ached and his back was sore from scrunching over the small screens that was blinking different colors for so long. He didn't understand what they meant except that they were supposed to be listening on what Kanda and Mei were up to.

Kanda had left a message that they had spotted a Noah in the vicinity of the party. It was the Noah of Pleasure; when Lenalee and Lavi heard Tyki's name, they both froze in their positions. They knew how deadly he could be and they knew of the force and relentlessness of that man's cruelty. He was the one that had almost killed Allen in China.

Lenalee was scared to look at Lavi when Kanda had mentioned that Mei had went off alone with him towards the balcony, but he didn't do anything but sit back and stare off into his own world. She asked him if he was alright, but he just smiled up at her and answered her nothing. Lenalee was worried that Lavi was hiding something, something that would cause him to break severely if he kept it bottled up inside.

Another crack of the intercom and both Lavi and Lenalee tune in to the voices that were coming through. It was Mei's and another unfamiliar female tone that was accusing Mei of something, then Kanda's voice interjected with much force that Lenalee and Lavi were both shocked to hear him defending Mei.

The words that the two wanted to hear finally came as Mei's voice took hold again and soon the line went dead again. They were coming home.


	43. Perspectives

A/N: AhhH! So much so to, so little time. x.x" Okay, sorry for the long wait! Here's the next chapter! Remember to review! (:

Chapter 43: Perspectives

Miranda and Mei were both asleep in the rocking carriage; they were warmly snuggled behind a thick blanket that covered their small bodies. Mei's head was gently sleeping on top of Miranda's shoulder. They looked like sisters almost, sleeping together so peacefully on one side of the carriage.

Mei's hat had been taken off so her dark red hair was falling across her pale face with the moonlight washing over it. Kanda was staring off out the window in a sour mood and Marie was trying not to tease him too much. He knew he was in a foul mood because they all saw what he did back there. Kanda Yuu wasn't somebody that liked to defend anyone, let alone stand up for someone in front of a crowd. It was different; something had changed.

"You really aren't going to say anything?" Marie asked indifferently. He placed the blanket that has fallen somewhat off the two back into place. Kanda stayed quiet, his eyes never leaving the window scene. Marie didn't say anything after that, the four just sat there awaiting the trip home with the silence falling around them like a shroud of darkness.

Thoughts propelled itself against his head making it throb as he closed his eyes to the numbing pain that was searing through his mind. He was having a stupid headache, he must have had too much to drink back at the party. The nauseating scent of cigars and heavy perfume still lingered in his nose like second hand smoke muddling his clear thinking. Slowly, with the sway of the roads and scenery, Kanda let his judgment blend and melt into the background of his hazy mind.

----

Mei heard murmuring of voices, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Her head was fuzzy with sleep and haze like she had walked through a veil of fog. Her body felt tired and numb as if in a comatose. They were moving, or more like someone was shifting her body from somewhere. Where was she? Oh, that's right, she was at the party earlier with all those beautiful people dancing around. She was in a gorgeous dress too. Mei felt like Cinderella for a brief moment, indulging in the delights of dreaming. A vague picture of a man that she had been talking to surfaced to her mind only to disappear when she tried too hard to remember. Her mind and body was too tired to do anything; she must have exhausted herself from the task. Whatever, she just wanted to sleep. Mei shifted so her mind drifted off into the darkness.

"All three of them are sound asleep?" Komui whispered pushing his glasses up to see Mei, Miranda and Kanda to be lifted from the coach, "Strange, I didn't think even Kanda would fall asleep." The effects of the drugs that they had taken earlier was wearing off as Mei and Kanda's dark hair began to reveal themselves; it fell over their shoulders as they were being moved. Lavi and Bookman were also there standing next to the wall. Lavi had been there since earlier on when his gramps had joined him in waiting.

Marie lifted Miranda into his arms and carried her off towards her room when Lavi saw Komui going in to get the other sleeping girl. Lavi jumped from his position and stopped Komui. The supervisor looked up surprised at the boy who gave him a small smile.

Lavi didn't take notice of the small frown that had appeared on his grandfather's lips as his eyes narrowed some behind his back. Komui nodded and let Lavi through.

Mei had fallen over on the seat with her body stretched out in a lazy form that made him laugh a little as he pulled her gently out. He draped her over his back and lifted her in one swift motion.

A hit of nostalgia came to him; he had done this before when Mei had just arrived not to long ago. He had carried her like this when she fell asleep on his lap; it was the day he was pondering about his feelings for the girl that was sleeping on his back at that instance.

Lavi sighed. Right now wasn't the time to be reminiscing about the good times; he had to get her to bed. Her large dress was really a drag since it was scratching against his arms as he carried her. Rounding the corner to her room, Lavi noticed a girl standing at her door. Lenalee looks up from the ground with a bright smile when Lavi approached her with Mei behind him.

"There you are, thought you'd never come," she said happily, opening the door for him. Lavi glanced at the girl strangely before entering the domain.

"What are you doing here, Lenalee? It's late, you should be in bed or else your brother will be all over my ass if he sees me with you," he said, putting the sleeping figure gently into bed. He was about to pull the sheets over her when Lenalee stopped him. Lavi stared at the girl who just smiled at him.

"She can't sleep in that, it's the only reason I'm here, Lavi. Someone needs to change her from that dress. Unless... _**You**_ want to do it." Lenalee grinned up at him. Once again, the red that had stained his cheeks that evening came rushing back. Lavi paused a bit before letting Lenalee push him out the door. "That's what I thought." she laughed softly at him, she stuck her tongue out at him then closed the door with a click.

It had been a while since he had come back to the Order. Everything was in a frenzy. What with Germany and the sinking of Russia into war, there was more akumas than ever, which meant that the generals were out to scrounge for more accommodators for Innocence. Since he had already lost one student, putting him to tears, he didn't have the heart to go out again to search for children to do an adults' work.

Children weren't meant to fight in such a condition; they shouldn't witness such horrors at a young age. Wasn't it the adult's responsibility to protect their children from such atrocities? Then why was it that he was actually advocating such ugly morals? Tiedoll took off his glasses and squeezed his eyes shut momentarily when he heard footsteps approach his way.

"Master?" a voice called out, a familiar one that caught his attention. Tiedoll turned his head to see Marie with a sleeping Kanda on his back. "What are you doing here so late? I thought you were out on a mission." he said walking towards him.

"Marie... Is that Yuu-kun on your back?" he asked pointing to the sleeping boy.

Marie chuckled and nodded, "I just came back with Kloud Nyne to get a few things before we leave again," he answered with a wave of his hand.

"We just came back from a simple assignment and it seems like Miranda, Mei and Kanda has exhausted themselves from it." Marie explained and Tiedoll smiled with a shake of his head making his wild grey hair shift. His glasses gleamed in his hands before he put them back on his nose to watch Marie and Kanda.

They were the only ones who had survived so far, next to a new student that he'd gotten named Chaoji Han. He felt slightly pleased that they were still around; sometimes he had nightmares that he was going to lose these two too.

"It's late Marie, why don't you go to sleep? Let me take Yuu to his room. It's been a long time since I've gotten to see him anyways," he mused lightly.

Marie switched the boy over to their master and waved a goodnight. Tiedoll shifted Kanda. He was a lot heavier than he was when he was young. Or maybe he was getting too old for this job. It didn't take long for him to locate his room. Even though it had been years, somewhere in the back of his mind he still remembered coming by this door with Kanda in his hand.

Kanda was just a boy back then. He remembered telling him that this was his new home and room. The boy had been silent back then with those dark orbs taking in his new surrounding. He never said a thing, always hiding everything to himself, making people worry.

Tiedoll opened the door to the dark room and entered silently to drop Kanda off; his body shifted and rolled itself into a sleeping position. Kanda's pale face was illuminated by the white glow that was coming through his window. Tiedoll went over to the window and pulled the curtains together so the sun wouldn't come rushing in in the morning. One thing that would irritate Kanda to no end was if he didn't get proper sleep.

Tiedoll slipped the shoes off and took off the black tux jacket before covering the body with a thick blanket. If only Kanda would show this side a little more, the softer side of his personality that no one ever gets to see. He was like an angel when he slept, no angry eyes, scowls, frowns, etc. Kanda's face for once was at peace, almost like a child's. Tiedoll smiled to himself before reaching out a hand to brush some hair away from his sleeping face.

"Goodnight, my son." he said softly as he exited his room and closed the door behind him without a second look over his shoulder.

----

He felt something heavy over his body. He shifted but it was still there. He tried to move it but it was everywhere. Kanda's eyes jolted open when he saw that he had flung his blankets to the floor; they now lay in a massive heap on the ground.

Kanda raised a hand to his head when he realized that he was back in his room. He didn't remember coming here by himself, so who in the world moved him here?! He took notice that he was still in his white dress shirt and black pants, but his ribbon, jacket, and his shoes has been taken off. Someone has been here to help him do all this, but his mind wasn't on that right now.

Kanda dropped his feet to the warm floor and pushed his dark hair into a ponytail, it seemed that the vial of stuff he drank has worn off. He finally looked like himself again. It was a hassle to have to make those girls squeal and scream; it irritated his ears and almost drove his mind to the brink of insanity. He didn't know girls could be so ruthless when it came to their voices.

He grunted before changing into more comfortable and proper clothing, throwing on a dark navy, sleeveless shirt and loose pants before pushing his door open to stomp out of his room.

_'Ah... I hear music in the distant... Such a sad melody. It's kind of strange. I feel like I've heard of this melody before. Oh yeah, Allen taught me those lyrics... The Musician's song... Why is he playing it now? But, it's some what comforting.'_

Mei opened her eyes gently to see a boy with white hair standing several feet away dressed in all white. He was smiling at her. He stood by the white piano with his hands folded neatly behind him, the black keys dancing airily by themselves as the song wafted itself around her.

"_Allen_?" her voice seemed to echo around her, but there was no destination as to where her voice was going to. It just seemed to bounce around her with the music that continued it's concordant notes wrapping their tiny fingers between the space that separated her with Allen.

"_Allen...? Where are we?_" she asked. She wanted to be scared, but she couldn't bring herself to fear the song and the boy that stood before her. There was something very familiar about everything that was brought before her. It must be a dream, with the white surroundings and warm soothing feeling that was wrapping it's calm effect on her thumping heart.

Mei sniffed her nose; it smelled like vanilla, with its sugary sweetness and soft aroma. Her mind picked it up, digging through her memories—it was the smell of the vanilla sugar cookies that grandma use to make. Mei closed her eyes and slowly opened them to witness an old lady in the kitchen with a little girl that was jumping up and down with a bright smile on her lips.

"_Oba-sama_...." her voice wavered a bit. Mei brushed back her hair to get a better look. That little girl turned around laughing reaching for a cookie cutter when Mei gasped. Her black curly hair was tied in pigtails and dark brown eyes. It was her.

Suddenly, two other figures walked over that made her heart seize with anticipation. They were laughing and holding each other. It was a man and a woman; the woman also had long curly hair that went down to her waist with dark lashes that touched her pale cheeks when she smiled. She was so beautiful...

Mei brought her hand up to her mouth trying to suppress the sobs that were racking her body as tears flowed down her cheeks. The man had strong jaw line and hawk-like, dark brown crystallized eyes that shone proudly underneath those dark brows.

"_Mama... Papa..._" Mei coughed out in between her hiccups—it was heart wrenching. She wanted to yell out, reach for them, do _something_. The image washed itself away, leaving only the two standing when they turned around to look up at her.

The woman gave her a warm smile when she extended her arms out towards her; the man still had his arm around the woman but gave her an encouraging grin. She didn't care if it was a dream or an illusion, for a brief moment, if God had granted her this part of her wish then it was alright. She just wanted to see them again, to be held by her parents, to be with them for a fraction of a second more, to tell them how much she missed them. Above everything else, Mei was afraid that she was going to forget her mother's face, the face that had soothed away so many nightmares because in reality, she was forgetting.

The pieces of her past life seemed to wash away little by little and she was forgetting slowly. In place was the family that she has now, with Komui, Lenalee, Allen, Lavi, Kanda, Riba... and everyone else.

Mei ran. She ran with everything she had and threw herself into their arms. It was like she had remembered, welcoming and soft. Mei finally let herself break, not holding back the tremendous amount of pain that was boxed up in her body. That was one thing she couldn't show anybody, not even Lavi. She couldn't show them this side of her, the part of her that was broken and unfixable.

In another flash her dream was gone as Mei jerked awake from her sleep. Tears were gushing down the corners of her eyes when she sat up to wipe them with the back of her hand. She took a deep breath to calm her uneven gasps down; she fell back onto the pillow with a sigh. Right before everything scattered itself, she saw them, everyone standing there with smiling faces and waving their hands at her as if welcoming back. She'd be alright, with them around, she'd pull through.

Mei sat up at the edge of her bed, her eyes wandered towards the outside of her window. The season was getting warmer since spring was going into summer already. She had been here a little over half a year already and so much had happened, the progression of so many things.

She was glad she was still here, that Alphonse had forced her into that boat to come here; she scratched her disarrayed hair with a smile playing on her lips. Her eyes felt sore and puffy from her dream. Mei made an attempt to rub them a bit but they began to hurt even more. She sighed.

Getting up, she was surprised that she was already changed into her favorite pair of sleeping shorts and shirt. Mei's head was still filled with her somewhat horrible dream when she opened her door to see Lavi standing with a plate of her favorite egg sandwich.

He almost wanted to have a nosebleed from her look; she was just too adorable with the bed head, large t-shirt, and sleepy expression; it just made him want to hug her. Except, there was a red ring around her drowsy eyes as if she has been crying her eyes out when she rubbed them. She smiled up at him and kissed him on the cheek good morning.

"Thought you'd want something to eat, sleepy head. Brought something over before Jerry stops making breakfast," he grinned handing it to her. Mei took it gratefully and gave him a thankful look.

"Thanks, I'm starving," she said, turning around with it to place it on the desk table that was in her room when Lavi abruptly launched himself at her and burrowed his face into the back of her neck. Mei almost knocked over the plate from the stumble when she whacked his arm.

"Lavi!" She heard him laugh and that agitated her a bit.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself but when you look this cute... You're asking for me to do something." He smirked causing her face to burn up. She pried herself away from him so he wouldn't get off on her humiliation.

"I'm sorry Mei, I just love teasing you because you have the silliest expressions when I do!" he laughed. Mei didn't say anything, but just rummaged around her things to look for something to wear. "Come on, you can't seriously be mad at me for that," he sulked and Mei turned to him and sighed.

Lavi was a child, always had been since the day she met him and it was the one part that made her feel like she didn't have to be so tight around people. She walked over to him and laced her fingers through his hair causing him to look at her strangely; she gave him a cute pout before taking a step forward, placing them closer together. Her other leg found itself between his legs making Lavi feel like hyperventilating, but his mind was too scrambled to think; he was staring at this different side of Mei that was causing his heart to pound rapidly against his chest.

"No, I'm not," she finally stated with a smart smirk pushing him out the door. Lavi's face dropped with a smiling face of his own. He was trying to brush it off with a mere chuckle that he wasn't faltering; he didn't want her to know that every time she got so close he felt like breaking all the rules for her sake.

To be able to change the very aspect of who he was, the one person that he had spent years perfecting was unthinkable. There was a part of him that was scared of her. When she gazed into his eye, he felt vulnerable to her stare; it was as if she looked too long, he would lose all the secrets and pain that he had hidden in his heart.

Lavi subconsciously fisted his hands together and began to walk away. He needed time to think. Was he willing to throw away everything he was for her? It took everything to shed away his emotions for the things around him and now they were all coming back to him in torrents of giant waves. It was consuming the strict ideals that he had lived his life by, the rules that had kept him safe. Was it too late because he had already broken the rules of being a Bookman?

"Lavi." A stern voice called his name, a voice he knew that was going to tell him the things he already knew, to rid of the world that he had started to treasure. It was the voice that would soon shatter his surreal world, where love and hope existed.


	44. Choices

A/N: Ohhhh- paths are crossing and emotions are about to erupt... The next chapter! Chapter 44: Choices! Read and review please! Thank you! (I love reviews [: )

Chapter 44: Choices

As Lavi closed the door behind him with a click, his body was rigid and tense. The words were still fresh in his mind, slightly stinging his ears like a buzzing bee that wouldn't go away. His gramps was right—he had forgotten his job. His job was to record and not get pulled in by the war but yet, he had allowed himself to be drawn in by the people. Their smiling faces that adorned the hallways of the Order…he had gotten hooked on something so trivial without realizing it. He allowed his heart to become lenient with the ordinance of what he was supposed to be. Lavi tilted his head back to sigh, shutting his single green eye; it'd been years since his right eye throbbed like this. It hadn't felt that painful since the time he had first gotten it. It was pulsating along with his heart, making Lavi twitch a little. He touched the eye-patch that was covering it and gritted his teeth.

----

Several minutes ago.

"Lavi," his grandfather called out with an austere face and Lavi turned to glimpse at a small stone-faced Bookman. "We need to talk."

Lavi grieved a bit, knowing what was coming. Lavi straightened his back and walked forward towards the opened door that his grandfather was standing next to. He entered and the door was shut with a bang. It didn't take Lavi long to recognize the room; it was the control chamber that they were given the first time they came to the Order almost three years ago. That one room, which was almost as vast as the Library itself, was filled with books from head to toe and littered all over the floor. Scrolls, books, parchments, papers, and volumes of dictionaries decorated the walls with one lone couch in the middle of the room.

"Take a seat," he ordered and Lavi did so in a very undignified way. Bookman narrowed his eyes at him for a brusque moment before getting on with the things he wanted to say. "You know what I'm going to say to you already, so why now state what you feel about it?"

Lavi kept quiet and scooted his foot over the side of the seat with smirk. "Geez, Panda, I really can't keep anything to myself can I?" Lavi joked; at least for a moment he could be that silly boy again. He prepared himself for the hit but it never came. He opened his eye to see a very serious Bookman glaring back at him. Never in his life had he actually seen his grandpa in this kind of mood before.

"This is a serious problem Lavi. Stop with the appalling displays of affection towards that girl. What have I taught you about your emotions? Have I just been teaching a fool to become my successor? You good-for-nothing grandson of mine," he growled.

Lavi was used to it, the way he spoke that is. He'd been listening to those harsh words everyday since he casted out his real name to take on the 49 aliases to reach his goal as a Bookman. In the beginning, what fueled him to become his grandfather's successor was so that he could travel the world to see different things, but his dream ended up in a nightmare that he couldn't run away from.

Lavi couldn't say anything except stay quiet at Bookman's accusation towards him; he knew it would be some time until people started talking and his 'pretend world' would finally be shattered. There was only silence falling between them and Lavi felt suffocated by the tension.

"You can take your pick Lavi, we can either stay and continue what we're doing or we can pack up and leave right now. Nothing's stopping us from pulling out. In fact, I had wanted us to leave the Order as soon as possible. We're in danger since we're the only witnesses to what Marian Cross had said to Allen that night," Bookman interjected swiftly into the conversation; that left Lavi looking at him with an estranged countenance. One that revealed grief and shock.

He recalled those memories from that night; it was still vivid as if it had happened just yesterday. It was after the battle in Noah's Ark, when everyone found out that Allen was the 14th, also dubbed as 'The Musician'. What they didn't know was that he wasn't exactly the 14th but a vessel for him to come back.

Allen was deteriorating with every moment that he was alive; the 14th was eating away at him, taking along his memories and Allen's very own existence. Allen was what was needed for his revival. It was the reason that he knew the song without really knowing it; it just sort of came to him. As Cross had put it, it was 'implanted' into Allen's memories from the 14th before he died. He had chosen a host without really thinking and picked Allen, a cursed child with an unwavering heart to be the host.

Lavi could tell that Cross was pissed to know that such a child was chosen from all the other good-for-nothings that the 14th could've chosen to be the host. He heard the pain that leaked from Cross's voice that he was actually regretting the promise he had made to the 14th. Cross himself never wanted this kind of fate to fall on Allen; he didn't deserve such destiny. Before the general left, he said something to Allen that had Lavi worried.

"**There's another side to this war. Don't die before it's over this time.**"

He didn't understand what the general meant and he wasn't able to ask him since Marian Cross suddenly disappeared from the Order without a trace except a pool of blood in the room he was staying in. His grandfather wanted him to stay quiet and not to think about it. Somehow, Lavi knew that his gramps knew more than he was letting on.

Lavi gripped his fingers so hard that his nail was pinching the palm of his hands; everyone was keeping secrets from everyone. Even if everyone smiled, the smiles were not really genuine because they consisted of lies to obscure the truth.

Even him. Lavi couldn't, by rules, tell Lenalee or Johnny about Allen's condition or what happened to him in the room, but also... He didn't have the heart to tell them anyways.

If he could just make sure Lenalee and the others weren't hurt too much, then it would be fine to carry the burden.

He couldn't stand Lenalee crying because it hurt too much to watch those cheerful amethyst eyes fill up with grief and pour down those pallid cheeks of hers. He lost count at how many times he and the others had caused her to worry endlessly that she couldn't sleep at night. Especially the time when they had to leave Allen behind in China. They had all thought he was dead. Lavi had said some awful things to her, things that had made her cry. Of course, his gramps made sure he got a beating for making a lady cry.

But he truly believed that Allen would pull through in the end, not only because of his strong will to live and fight for the akumas, but also of what he said in that room that night.

"_I swore to Mana that I'd never stop no matter what, that I'd keep walking until I died. I'm the one who swore!_" Allen had flashed those silvery defiant eyes that burned with an intense fire that Lavi couldn't comprehend. "_I don't know... How much I've been influenced by the 14th's 'memories'. And honestly, I don't really know how to take the news about Mana. But I still love him. These feelings... Come from my heart, from the real I'm going to keep my promise to Mana. That's what I've decided! I don't care about the 14th! He won't let him have this!_"

He had that rebellious look on his face when he stuck out his tongue at Cross. Lavi tried to be serious, but he couldn't help but feel proud of Allen and all that that he had accomplished in the midst of all the ruckus with Central and still be able to stand firm in what he believed in.

Bookman stared at the lanky teen that sat across from him and stayed silent; he was debating, thinking as to what he wanted to do. He didn't want to do this, threatening what Lavi loved the most for him to make a choice. But he couldn't let this go on any longer; if he did, Lavi would lose himself in the world of war and pain. Bookmans weren't supposed to feel anything of specific people or events. They were forever apathetic to the things around them for the sake of recording them down as history. Everyone would just be part of ink and paper anyways; there was no use in getting attached so much. Yet, these people were able to influence him in ways he wasn't prepared to accept. Lavi opened up, fell in love even. Except, right now he knew that neither the boy nor the girl was smart enough to fully understand the bond they've created. There was still time to sever it.

Lavi didn't want to lose them so fast, especially Mei. He wanted to be there for her, even if it meant not being able to hug her whenever he wanted or just to watch her. He was fine with it. As long as he was able to be in the same place as her, then at least he'd be able to watch over her. He would be able to still laugh and cry with them. As he made up his mind, he knew it was going to hurt both of them, but it was better off this way. He looked up with a heartless cold stare that Bookman hadn't seen Lavi wear for some time now and gave him an equally disciplined look.

"Fine. I'll do what you say, just let me stay here."

----

He didn't know if that was one of the hardest decisions he had ever had to make or what, but he knew it had hurt something inside. Lavi clutched the edge of his shirt and gasped in a breath. He couldn't tell her; he'd have to hide it from her.

"Lavi?"

Lavi stumbled sideways from shock when he opened his eye to look at a smiling Mei that was walking towards him. She was in her uniform today, that black and red outfit that fitted her small body perfectly. The red ruffles from the skirt hit just below her mid thigh when a section of her skin revealed itself before it disappeared behind her long knee socks.

"There you are, Komui wants to talk to us about yesterday's event. He wants to know all about it!" she grinned up at him.

Mei, being so use to taking his hand in hers slipped her fingers through his when they began walking. Lavi didn't move from his spot and just let her hand escape from his, slowly, as if time had purposely frozen itself frame by frame. He saw her walk away with her warm small hands falling from his. Mei stopped and turned around to face him. Lavi's eyes were directed to the ground, but he continued to smile, hoping she wouldn't notice.

"Lavi?" her voice sounded concerned and guilt burned itself inside of him but he flipped his head up with a happy grin. To be himself, for her sake, he had to be normal. To pretend everything was alright, even if he was hurting inside. "Is something wrong?" she asked him and Lavi shook his head walking ahead of her.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him and Lavi shook his head walking ahead of her.

"It's nothing, Mei. Come on let's go!" he chirped beckoning her to follow. Mei stood there for a second more when she raised her hand and looked at it. Something was off, those hands that had always kept her safe felt oddly cold today. She was probably just overanalyzing it. Mei shrugged and followed suit to where Lavi was and brushed off the irregular feeling she was having.

The hallways were silent, like someone had turned off the volume. Silent. It was weird and a bit awkward. Neither Lavi nor Mei was used to that kind of noiselessness that was surrounding the Order hall right now. Mei bit her lower lip and Lavi stayed quiet. She peered up at him from the corners of her eyes and saw him frown at something before shaking his head. There was definitely something bothering him and he wasn't telling her about it. The way he swiftly broke away from her, he seemed very distant to her.

They reached Komui's office door when Mei pushed them open and a gust of cold atmosphere blew into her face with Lavi walking in behind her. It would have knocked the air out of her lungs if it wasn't for Lavi who held her arm to keep her balance. He wrinkled his nose from the stale air and shuddered.

"Geez, it's like someone died in here," Lavi commented, "Komui?" he called out towards the messy table. They rounded his office when Mei and Lavi froze in their spot; a man with a toothbrush mustache was grinning at them from Komui's table with a plate of sweets in his hand. An average sized man with blonde hair stood rigid next to him. She heard Lavi's knuckles crack from being fisted too hard and the grit of his teeth. Mei felt her hand start to shake; she hated it when that happened. This man poured so much fear into her that her whole body would start to undo itself like pieces of broken glass. She hated Rouvelier for making her so weak against him, being able to shake her down to easily. Her throat went dry and her eyes burned against their sockets when she took a deep breath and managed a smile.

"Rouvelier," she pursed her lips, no wonder it was so quiet. The big bad wolf was in town, and no one dared to mess with him. Not even Komui, who had no power to protect them against this monster of a being. She saw Lenalee shivering in the corner with wide eyes and Bookman was steadily standing against a shelf full of books. Even Kanda had made an appearance to be here. Komui was partially in the dark when both Lavi and Mei entered the domain to a complete silenced room. Lavi raised a hand to Link, who was staring off to who knows where when he stands like that next to Rouvelier.

"Nice to see you're still alive, Link," he saluted, making the older teen glare at him. Mei couldn't help but laugh a little, but was silenced with Rouvelier's ever daunting snake eyes. Rouvelier was a ruthless man that had no heart. Sometimes, she wondered why he was even on this side. He more so should belong on the Earl's side; it suited him better.

Rouvelier pushed the plate of sweets towards the two and smiled that slimy grin of his; it really made her want to shudder. "Nice to see you two finally here. Thought you weren't coming. Try some, it's my newest recipe," he coaxed at them. Lavi shook his head and backed away towards the empty chair. Mei waved a 'no' and arched her brows at him with her arms swinging slightly next to her.

"What brings you down here," she asked as her mind shook. "Thought you were staying in Central for a while longer." Why was she talking to him? Shut up, her mind was ordering her, but her body needed a place to release the sudden tension that has gathered in her body.

Komui was staring at her with wide eyes. He wanted her to sit and let him do the talking. He was afraid that Rouvelier was going to take her and do something horrible, like he did with Lenalee. He couldn't let that happen again, he just couldn't. He shifted his glasses and looked up, catching Mei's eyes. Komui saw the fear streak across her face even though she was trying to act normal, but normal was hard to do, especially when it came to being in the same room as Rouvelier.

"Well, things seem to be in a mess here at the Order. I came down here especially to see how you're doing," he jeered at her. He still wore that ridiculous smile on his lips that made Mei want to smack him. "Can't even finish a simple task without destroying the place. I really am disappointed," his voice dripped itself from his thin lips. "What with _another _Innocence going haywire." This time, Lenalee's shoulders perked up from fright. Lavi soothed her down with gentle rubs on her back. Komui turned his head so that he didn't have to watch her suffer; it was times like these that he couldn't protect her. He could only watch from afar as his little sister stifled her cries by herself.

"Ah, no wonder the air went stale in here. Your mere presence destroys the purity of things. Sorry, I forgot," she snorted to herself with a wave of her hand. Rouvelier shot her a daring glare and stood up with a thrust of his fists on the table that caused it to shake. The sound was so loud that everyone in the room shook a little. Even Kanda looked over with his own dark glance. Lavi, with his Bookman skilled ears, heard what she said and leapt himself over the table to cover Mei's mouth with his hand. Lavi grinned up at Rouvelier who was staring disgustingly at Lavi's sprawled position from the jump before shooting his eyes at Mei again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you the first time," he spat out with spittle flying from his mouth. Lavi pulled Mei away from the desk and more towards the back. Mei wanted to slap herself for saying something so dangerous at that moment. She didn't know what took over her; it was as if that character from last night had taken over for a brief moment. That deceptive part of her that lied and cheated.

Please, don't say anything anymore," he whispered into her ear. Mei nodded in response. Lavi finally let his hand go and made her sit. Rouvelier fixed his fallen hair; it had always reminded her of a toupee and even now, it made her giggle. Mei covered her mouth when Lavi and Komui shot her a distressed signal; she felt Lavi's hand tighten around hers and she closed her mouth.

"Okay, now that _that's _done with..." Rouvelier's voice once again took over. Mei didn't really pay attention because something else was bugging her and it wasn't about Lavi's strange behavior earlier. It was about her herself.

Something was wrong with her; she was way too far into this dangerous game of cat and mouse for her to stop. It was exciting a part of her that was nagging to come out, a fiery side that was nipping its way towards her heart, her soul. Her skin felt as though it were burning every inch that was on her, every pore. It was starting to _**hurt**_.

Mei clenched her left arm with her right hand and winced. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. She knew her breathing was becoming labored, but she didn't want to interrupt _him _again. She tilted her head back to ease the pain, but it wasn't working. The world around her was swirling with stars. Pain was shooting across her body in ways that made her want to scream;it was as if she were back in that dark cellar with just a single bed to accompany her, being strapped down to deal with the pain. Tears, pain, the world falling apart, and then quietness as Rouvelier's voice came back sharp and piercing in her ears.

Mei sucked in a breath and looked around hoping nobody noticed what had just happened when she caught Kanda's dark eyes staring at her. She blinked and he slowly adjusted his eyes back to the front. Mei's face went hot. Did he see her? She hoped that he hadn't but it wasn't like he was going to say anything to anyone. It was not like Kanda to butt into other people's business... Or was he staring at her because of what happened yesterday? Mei wasn't too sure, she just wished it was the latter.

It bothered him that he's been keeping an eye out for her since yesterday's mission; he was annoying himself by these strange things that he was doing for that girl's sake. Just the fact that she was so clumsy and daring; it was a _**pain**_ to watch. During one of their breaks, she had tripped over her own foot and spilled coffee all over herself. Lavi laughed so hard that his own drink came flying out of his nose. It wasn't like he cared that Lavi had wiped that dark liquid off her face and secretly kissed her cheek to say he was sorry for laughing so hard. It just got on his nerves.

Those two didn't take anything seriously, that's why their types of people died faster in this realm of work. Just look at Daisya. It was not hard for Kanda to hate those kind of people. They were weak and they were stupid in their happy bright little worlds when reality was so much more than they could handle. He hated her smile; he hated her laughter that rang in the morning air like musical notes; he hated how her words could soothe his temper when he was angry. Her very touch would set a calming effect through him; it was as though his brain was being short circuited to _behave_. Why that happened, he didn't know, and he would rather not know. For once, he'd rather stay ignorant than become knowledgeable.

He had seen her come in with him, witnessed her face when she saw Rouvelier at the desk. The fear that was pretty apparent on her face shouted out for help, but Lavi was too much of an idiot to notice and the others were too busy self-worrying in what to do next to see that she was in pain. But it passed for her; she hid her feelings like she hid everything else.

Kanda had noticed that she was good at hiding things, even though she hadn't quite picked up the fact that she was good at deceiving people yet. Mei had slipped into her darker character and had even had the nerve to talk back to Rouvelier. That was the part of her that he worried about. Wait. Worried? What the hell? He was not worried about her kind of person. But still... There was something sinister about her other side that made him feel agitated.

She was twisting in pain, and she was trying to muffle her screams. He wanted to ask, to say something to Komui that that girl was in trouble, but it wasn't his problem. If she were staying quiet, then that meant that she didn't want anyone to know, meaning then he shouldn't bother either. Why did he care in the first place? He didn't give a crap.

Kanda could see her tears daring to fall down her face, the pain she was feeling seemed excruciating and his stomach seemed to knot together. That baka usagi was sitting right next to her, didn't he see that she needed help?! Damn! He really was a fool then!

It was over before he knew it; she seemed back to normal, but her once pale face was flushed when her eyes darted themselves around her. Her eyes met his and he almost froze in his position. He hadn't noticed that he had been staring at her this whole time when he shifted his eyes back to Rouvelier. God, if she had figured that he'd been staring, she wasn't going to let him live this down. He just knew she was going to start asking questions after this meeting was done. It was so like her.

Kanda wanted out of the room. It suddenly felt too small and cramped with so many people, especially with that man sitting there talking his lips off like some god or what not and Lenalee's quiet sobs. It was hard to think straight in such an environment. He shifted himself; he couldn't remember when he suddenly became so uncomfortable. Crap. The girl was having an effect on him—how irritating that was.

Kanda closed his eyes and drowned out the noise before he sighed in annoyance. His hand gripped around Mugen as if he wanted to use it, itching to use it because he was annoyed.

Kanda was annoyed that he was here listening to such a vulgar man. Annoyed that he was here in the first place. But most of all, annoyed that someone had finally gotten under his skin.


	45. Talk to Me

Chapter 45: Talk to Me

The meeting was finally over, after hours of talking and being stuck in that room, it was finally done. Rouvelier's voice stopped, if only for a second, as he watched them leave Komui's office. Mei didn't know what was the hardest to deal with—the way Rouvelier was branding her 'unfit' for her Innocence or the fact that everyone now knew that she couldn't handle her own power. She felt suddenly empty and uncontrolled, as if she had lost something in her. Part of her pride? Or was it herself? She couldn't figure out what it was; her feelings were just a mass of muddled emotions.

Lavi had left right after it was over, said something about memorizing a book by tomorrow morning for Bookman, so now she was alone in the hallway still gasping for air when the doors opened up and Kanda stepped out with an exotic face. He actually looked _flustered _about something. Kanda Yuu was never flustered about anything. He acted way too **cool **for that; Mei rolled her eyes at her own preposterous thoughts.

Kanda stopped in his tracks to stare at her for a moment as if expecting her to say something, but when she didn't, he just went about his own business. He was going to get ready for another mission that Komui had assigned to him and he was leaving tomorrow for it.

Mei watched him walk past her without saying anything, not even a small 'thank you' for saving him yesterday from those pestering women. Mei bit her lower lip; what she really wanted to ask him was to not tell anyone about what he saw in the room. She was scared that Lavi was going to find out and he was going to start asking questions. Mei wasn't ready to tell him everything just yet, from Hevlaska's prophesy to the secret of her Innocence.

As her mind was trying to figure out what to do, Kanda was pulling away from her more and more. If she didn't do this now, there wasn't going to be a second chance. Mei gulped before standing up straight to face the back of Kanda. Her small hand automatically reached out for him, grabbing a part of his sleeve and tugging him back. He stopped walking for a second before turning around; even though he had tried to hide it, she saw. Mei saw the surprised expression that he had pulled a fraction of a second earlier before frowning to look at her. An expression she had hardly seen him wear around people. She was just too used to the stone cold Kanda that scared everybody at the Order. She had always thought that Kanda was just one of those people that didn't like to talk, who knew he was able to pull off that expression. It intrigued Mei.

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out of it. She just stared dumbly at him, "Uh...m." her stuttered out, causing Kanda to growl at her and heat rose up to her face.

"What?!" he snapped at her, causing her to flinch slightly from his harsh tone. Mei should have been use to his raw attitude by now, so why was she suddenly scared? Mei just continued to stare up at him with her blank eyes which made Kanda that much more aggravated. "If you're not going to say anything, then don't touch me," he spat out, pulling his arm away from her. He started walking away again and Mei finally blurted the words out.

"You saw, didn't you?" she stumbled as she bit her lips again. "Please don't tell anyone," she mumbled with an embarrassed expression on her face. Even though she knew Kanda wouldn't, there was a side of her that wanted to hear him promise her that he wouldn't tell. Kanda didn't stop, but just grumbled something under his breath before answering her.

"It's not my problem," he replied curtly. Even though she felt slightly reassured by his words, it still stung her. He didn't have to say it so coldly; she just wanted them to be on good terms.

"Mo... You didn't have to say it like you hate me," Mei pouted with her hands fisted at her sides; she looked like a sulking child that was fighting with her older brother. She watched Kanda's graceful figure stop and turn around to face her. His face was contorted in that forever angry face of his, yet she found it almost enchanting to watch his pale skin and dark ebony eyes glare out under his long ravenous hair. His hands were gripping Mugen so tightly that his knuckles looked like they were about to pop themselves out of his skin.

"That's because I do," he said venomously. Mei frowned even deeper, if that was even possible. She placed both her hands on her hips and tilted forward towards him.

"Liar," she taunted which caused Kanda to look at her once again surprised by her audacity to talk back to him like that. "If you hated me then you wouldn't have helped me last night," she said with a simple smile playing across her lips. Kanda was up to his peak with this girl; if she didn't stop whatever it was that she was doing, he was going to pull Mugen out and do something very stupid with it.

"Who told you to do something so stupid?" he countered a bit forcefully, making her take a step back. "Simply because you're an idiot, like Moyashi and Baka Usagi." He could see her face fall drastically from that smug look she had on earlier, her small pink lips dropping as if a ton of weight had just hit her. Her expressions made him smirk.

Mei stomped a foot; she didn't have anything to say to that. She really was a child, a perfect fit for that immature red head. Yet, in the back of his mind, it disconcerted him.

Kanda turned around and stalked away, leaving a rather upset Mei standing in the hall. "At least I didn't have to be saved from a bunch of WOMEN!" she screamed at him. Her voice accounted for heads to turn and look at Kanda who froze on the spot. Mei had done it; she had just struck a nerve that was going to be her death. Now, she was scared—that look in his eyes told her that he was going to kill her for saying what she said. Scared because he was marching towards her with an absolutely pissed face.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her after him and Mei almost tripped from the sudden pull of her arm. His large strides were too much that Mei had to jog behind him to keep up or else she was going to fall and land face flat on the ground. She cringed when she felt his grip tighten; he was really mad and really, she should've just kept her mouth shut. She always did this to herself—getting people mad at her that is. She really should change that habit of hers, or else it was going to be her end.

The moment they were alone in a secluded hallway, Kanda let her go and forced her against the wall with Mugen against her neck. His breath fanning itself across her neck; she didn't mean to piss him off so much. It was his fault for pushing her buttons so much. "You're really asking for a _**death wish**_ aren't you?" he gritted through his teeth. Mei shook her head so hard that her hair fell across her face; she hasn't felt this much fear since she saw Tyki that night, so long ago. Her lungs abruptly felt too small and her breathing became lapsed. The world was once again spinning out of control with stars swirling above with the ceiling. Her skin was burning again.

He took notice that she was flushed again; he felt the sudden warmth that washed over him. Mei was emitting waves of heat from her body and she looked utterly sick, just like she had in Komui's office. If it wasn't for him applying pressure to her, she would've fallen to the floor already. Mei slumped herself against the wall when Kanda released Mugen off of her. She tried really hard to steady herself, but failed miserably. He clicked his tongue out of sheer irritation, but Mei didn't seem to hear, it was just whirring noises that seemed to enter her ears. Kanda fisted his hair in agitation before grabbing the girl from under her arms to pull her up; he scooped her into his arms in one move and began his run towards the Order's hospital room.

They were running, who she was with, she wasn't too sure. Wind, panting, speed, pain. Everything felt like it was moving from under her and she felt the pain strike her again. Dear god, the pain hurt like no other, her whole body was inflamed and it was burning... Driving her crazy. There was a loud bang, then several mixes of voices. She couldn't comprehend what they were saying, but the voices were definitely there. Mei felt herself being shifted to a softer substance that graced her aching body when the comforting warmth disappeared from her side. For a moment, Lavi came to mind and as she made a subconscious grab for him, the warmth came back and her thumping heart settled.

"My goodness, the girl's burning!" the Head nurse exclaimed hurriedly with her shuffling footsteps towards the cupboards. She drew out several small pans and gauzes when she turned around to face the boy again. "Don't just stand there, Kanda! Help me." she barked at him.

People don't bark orders at Kanda, **ever**. Then again, she was the Head Nurse, the only other being in this place that could ever instill a bit of fear into him (especially when he leaves without consent from her). But no one had to know that.

He sighed, genuinely sighed of exhaustion. This one girl girl can cause so much trouble for him. He wonders how that baka even keeps up with her. Kanda tugged his arm, but she wouldn't let go. He tried it again and she groaned at him as if he was some kind of teddy bear being taken away from her.

"Well I can't exactly help you with her latching so tightly onto to me." he stated, trying very hard not to sound like he was complaining. He raised his head to the nurse who just stared out from her aged skin and exhaled a breath. She walked over with her hands full of doctor equipment and placed them on the side table when she went over and attempted to pry the girl's fingers from his sleeve. Her hand retracted back as soon as she touched Mei's hand.

"She's not just burning she's boiling!" she staggered out with shock, "We've got to cool her down. Stay here with her, I've got to get some ice." she instructed. Kanda stared transfixed at what she said. She wanted him to stay?! That's just too insane. He's got other things to do than babysit her all day.

"What! I have to stay here?" he shouted out at the Nurse who ran out the door leaving him with a girl that was blistering with heat. "Shit!" he cursed from under his breath, he pulled out a chair and sat angrily on top of it. he glared at her, sent daggers at her and yet she didn't let go and his patience was dying, but there wasn't a thing he could do about it. Finally, he gave up his losing fight with her and relaxed himself in the chair, "Baka chibi." he muttered at her.

----

Lavi scratched his head; he was troubled. He'd just lied and ditched Mei back there and it left him feeling appalled at himself, but... It was for the sake of being able to see her that he was doing this. He knew it was going to be arduous, but he never knew it was going to be this much. He didn't know if he could keep treating her like that. If he wasn't so attached to her, this would be easier. Lavi staggered onto the wall, suddenly feeling depressed. A spark of his soul could be seen floating from his lips when a voice called out to him.

"Oh! Lavi! You're alone!" Lenalee piped up from behind. Lavi turned to see a grinning girl walk up to him with some files in hand. "I was just going to see Allen and Krory, why don't you come with me? You seem a bit lonely there," she said but Lavi just gave her a cold, sarcastic glare.

"What's that suppose to mean?" he glowered. Lenalee smiled cryptically then stuck out her tongue playfully as she walked up a few steps ahead.

"Don't be sour, Lavi. That's not you." she insisted, "I'm just saying, you're always with somebody and today... You just look a bit lonesome walking alone in the hallways." she elaborated clearly.

Lavi felt the sting of indiscretion fall upon him, he had assumed too quickly and it was all because he was being careless. "Sorry." Lavi mumbled. He was lashing out at people from being angry at himself. Of all people, Lenalee had to be the first. She had done so much for him, always so caring and kind towards him no matter how much he sometimes says the wrong things towards her. Why was he so stupid?

Lenalee shook her head, "It's okay. Did something happen?" she asked with a curious tone and caring grace. Lavi stayed quiet and Lenalee got the hint that he didn't want to talk about it before she chuckled slightly, "Uh, it's okay. You don't have to tell me." But she was worried, yet again. She's never seen Lavi this dismal before, well exception to those many times that Allen got hurt or when she was being held prisoner in her own Innocence.

"It's nothing." he answered her with finality to that topic. "Are you feeling alright?" he questioned with a pause. Lenalee scrunched her face up in confusion when it clicked in her head as to what he was talking about. She heaved a sigh and gave him an embarrassed lopsided grin.

"Yeah, I can't help the tears whenever I see Rouvelier. The images always reflect back to those times when he forced upon me the Innocence, I remember hating him so much." she respired slightly. They had fallen into sync in walking, to where? They don't really know, the destination wasn't really that important right now.

"And... You don't anymore?" Lavi asked surprised at her past tense usage. He placed both his hands into his pant pockets and watched the Asian girl disclose about her story to him.

Lavi never knew the whole story to Lenalee's life, he just heard tidbits here and there and he himself just placed them according to how it happened. He saw her shake her head a bit before closing her eyes to recall her past.

"I suppose you can say that, I think I should be thanking him instead." she hinted, that caused Lavi to be confused. Thank a man like that? When hell freezes over, maybe. Lenalee laughed at his reaction, "I found out, hating a person is too exhausting, you know? It's so much more easier if you just let it go. Plus, he gave me the one thing that I could use to protect the people that I love the most. My family, my friends. If he wasn't so persistent in giving it to me, I would've never have had the strength to go on everyday. I wouldn't be able to grow stronger." she clarified with a firm tone that made Lavi really believe that Lenalee had matured since the day they met three years ago. "I want to fight like hell to assure the safety of the future, even if I can't see to the end of this war... I want people down the line be able to live easier lives." She casted her eyes his way, "Lavi, we're exorcists, it's our job to protect the people... Above all else, the people that we care about the most. And Rouvelier gave that me power because he was stubborn, and I know he's an ass three quarters of the time that he's awake, but I really think he cares." she refined with a half smile on her lips.

Lavi gawked at the girl before him, all the things she's said, it was like she had read his mind. His problems that was left unanswered felt like there was a solution, he too, wanted to fight for his most important person... but he didn't want to involve that person in his already complicated life either. He just didn't want to see her in agony anymore, and he was willing to sacrifice everything for her. Even his own happiness.

"Lenalee?" his voice sounded soft and far away that the girl next to him barely caught it. She leaned in closer to see a disoriented face staring back at her.

"Yes?" she asked, Lenalee didn't need to ask him to know that something was up with him. She had spent too long of a time with him not to know, but she didn't want to push him as if she was forcing him to tell her. She wanted Lavi to pace himself if there was anything he wanted to talk about, she of all people knew how fragile the heart can be. Lenalee scooted both her hands in front of her in a calm posture as they continued to walk down the hall that was slowly dwindling with people.

"I don't know anymore." he emanated a sigh, his other hand went through his rakish hair that fell over his green eye.

"Sometimes, it's okay not to know. Wasn't that your thing? To go with the flow of the river. You've never let anyone or anything deviate from what you wanted to do, why start now?" she asked humbly with a nod of her head. "I'm sure whatever that's bothering you, you'll figure it out. You always do." she teased imperceptibly with a poke to the arm.

It couldn't be helped, Lavi wasn't the type to mope about things. He got things done, he was constantly moving around, jumping, dancing, hooting, etc. That's right, he was Lavi Bookman. He made people happy, not because he had to or that was his act, it was because he loved to see their _smiles. _The reason he did the things he did was because of them, they're happiness was what he wanted to save and protect. They had taught him to trust ad feel again, what it was like to be comforted. That was his sole reason, until he met that one person that made it that much more worthwhile to fight. To be able to come home to friends and somebody he cherished. To be graced by her presence and smile meant everything to him.

Maybe it was because it was obvious, or it could be from a women's intuitions, but Lenalee somehow knew that the topic of the evening wasn't about Allen or Kanda. In her gut feeling, it felt like it was about Mei. It surprised her that neither of them know that they were more than just a boy and a girl liking each other. They had surpassed that level so long ago that they've reached a place that most exorcists could never achieve. Loving your family was so much more different than being in love and being loved by the one person that was meant to be with you. She knew it sounded cheesy, but she was just a tad bit jealous of them.

Lenalee never did understand the way the two Bookmans did things. Lavi had always been the one to cheer people up, with his witty smile and his pranks. He lightened up the mood when things were down, yet there was a distant sadness that she couldn't quite place with Lavi. One that only Mei seemed to wash away with her presence, something gentle could always be seen when those two were together. A kind of happiness that was hard to find in the world they lived in and Lenalee didn't want to see it cut off before it even bloomed. Lavi deserved his own happiness too.

They stopped so suddenly that Lavi bumped into her, he seemed startled when he peered at the door and the sign that read 'Infirmary'. They were there, he had forgotten that Lenalee was in the middle of going to the hospital room to visit Krory and Allen. He had become so absorbed in his own thought to realize that they had reached their destination.

"I know... In your position, it's hard to say the things you want to say, but it's okay to be a little selfish from time to time. Especially for someone like you, Lavi. Who's given so much to us already by bringing your smile to us... So please for Mei's sake, my sake, do something for yourself already." the girl spoke to him softly with a light smile fluttering on her face.

Before he could answer, Lenalee had swiftly opened the door and entered into the room. _'That's the thing, Lenalee... You just don't know what's it really like being me...'_ Lavi thought silently to himself, it didn't matter now because everything was already set in motion.

----

'_She was running towards the sound, a musical note that was floating from behind the large tent that stood in the middle of the field. The circus had come to town and her parents had gladly taken her to it. She was searching for the restroom when she stopped upon the lilting sound that was coming from somewhere. It sounded sweet and coarse, with a low rumble when she stumbled upon a tall broad shouldered man humming the tune. He had a bucket of slosh and hay that he was about to throw out when he noticed her standing there with a blank face. He smiled sweetly at her before kneeling down to look at her._

_Mei had always thought clowns were a bit creepy, and they weren't funny at all, so she didn't see a point in their jobs. She tried to step back when she stumbled and her little tush landed on the soft grass. The man laughed and Mei puffed out her cheeks in anger. To her surprise he extended a hand to her and helped her up, even dusting the dirt from her skirt before checking for other injuries. She stared up at him quizzically with a contemplating face when she just spouted out the question she wanted to ask him._

_"Mister, was it you that sang that song?" she asked stupidly. God, she was talking to a complete stranger. Was she an idiot or what? He only glanced at her before grinning and nodding._

_"Do you want to know the song?" he questioned and she bobbed her head up and down excitedly. So, she spent the next 10 minutes sitting there with an awkward clown learning a lullaby, but she was having fun. The tune was more beautiful than she had originally thought but all too soon, she heard her mother's anxious voice calling for her. She clamored up and started for the front when she turned around to face him one more time._

_"Thank you, it was a pretty song. My name's Mei by the way. What's yours?" she called out in a carefree tone. The man didn't say anything; it seemed like he was thinking whether or not he wanted to tell her before he sighed and scratched his painted face and smiled._

_"Just call me Mana."_'

Mei's eyes shot open when she blinked into the darkness, she turned her head to face the opened windows to see that the sun had already set in the horizon. She sat up and scanned the room, she was in the infirmary. The last thing she remembered was arguing with Kanda before knocking out. Flashes of her fight with Kanda rose to memory and Mei groaned. Good lord, she said some pretty stupid things back there. He was probably somewhere being pissed off right now and it was all her fault.

A bustling of sheets caught her attention when a nurse came in decked in all-white; she gave Mei a smile and set the clothes on the bed next to hers.

"You're finally awake, I see," she said, checking her pulse and other protocols. "You just missed Mr. Kanda. He left seconds before you woke up. You should really thank him for bringing you in," she told her. "You were burning with a fever, good thing he brought you in so faster, we were able to lower it before it got out of hand."

Mei, for the first time, was genuinely surprised. _Kanda _had brought her in? The GREAT Kanda Yuu? She felt her face flush suddenly from the news; it wasn't as though she was flattered by his gesture or anything of that sort. She closed her eyes trying to remember. He was running very fast, she could hear his heartbeat thudding against his chest as he carried her down the hall growling at all those that were getting in his way. For a moment she felt him feel slightly worried, but she doubted he was going to admit that.

The nurse noticed her crimson face and smiled softly before jotting down the last of the checkup note, "He sat by you the whole time, you know. He wasn't necessarily angry... He seemed..." she tried to think of a word for him, "More agitated than mad, but I've never really seen Kanda-san so dedicated before."

Mei scoffed with sarcasm; that was so like Kanda to be frustrated to have to sit and do nothing but babysit her.

"You held onto his hand like an iron clamp too," she noted dutifully which sent another wave of heat to splash its way across her face.

What? Impossible. Shit. Was she for real? Did she really do that? Mei felt her insides twist up from anxiety. Or was it from disappointment? She had expected it to be that silly red head when she woke up. So Lavi wasn't there after all, it was someone else that had held her hand. Lavi seemed to be isolating himself from her; she didn't know if it was on purpose or was it on accident. Whatever it was, it gave her a jabbing pain in her heart.


	46. Visiting Hour

A/N: If no one knew, in this story line, people do age... So Mei just turned 18.. Or well several months actually and Lenalee is 17, Allen 16, Lavi and Kanda will both be turning 19 soon in the story.

Chapter 46: Visiting Hour

The two had slipped in quietly from the outside when Lavi noticed the distinct smell of pork and chicken wafting in the air of the room. It swirled together making a rather odd aroma stick to their skin. He heard Lenalee cough a little from the strong smells that were emitting from a large lump where Allen's body was suppose to reside in. Lavi's jaws fell to the floor when he came into view. He'd seen this before, it was Allen's trademark whenever he was in the hospital for a while, that boy had a habit of eating large amount of food and dumping the remains in his bed. Once was enough to make him stay away, he did not want to see what was underneath it this time.

Lenalee was reaching for the covers that was covering the large bump on the bed with her voice calling out for Allen when Lavi got moving.

"Lenalee! NOOO!!" he screamed throwing his arms at her with a panic stricken face. Lenalee turned a surprised face at him when his body crashed against hers and sent both of them sprawling across the slippery ground. Right then, the door knob jingled and Allen came waltzing in with a plate full of meat related substances with Komui following closely behind. Both Lenalee and Lavi shot their heads up from their awkward position with Lavi's head atop of Lenalee's chest and her hands grabbing his shirt. To make things worse his legs were tangled with hers in a mass of skin touching skin. It was then that all Hell broke loose in the room.

"Laviiiiiiiii! I'm going to killlllll youuuuu! How dare you touch my poor Lenalee!! I trusted you...! I thought you were a CLEAN BOY!" Komui shouted with tears flooding out from behind his glasses. He was thrashing an apparently new weapon of his. It consisted of a drill and chain saw that revved heavily in his hands, well, better than the Komurin Xs that he kept building. "I didn't think you were like this!" he yelled in a frenzy chasing after a pleading Lavi.

Lenalee smacked a hand to her forehead and groaned, not again! Allen laughed slightly whie he bit into a chicken thigh to the amusement that was destroying this room as the chase continued. Lenalee stood up with angry eyes when she activated her boots and Allen's face fell, he clamored to the other side of Krory's bed. Lenalee's temper was not to be messed with when she's actually pissed. "Onii-san!" she snapped loudly, she lifted her foot and just as Lavi and Komui came around the second time, it collided itself with Komui's face. Snot flung itself from his nose and the tears dripped itself to the floor when Komui scampered to a corner holding his bruised face.

He turned to look at her with his puppy dog face and pouted lips, Lenalee didn't waver under his 'act' to forgive him. "Why?! My poor Lenalee! I was only trying to protect you from beasts like him!" he sobbed uncontrollably from the corner.

Lavi whipped a finger at him, he was left breathless and aching, "SHUT UP CURLY! I TOLD YOU IT WASN'T LIKE THAT!" he shouted at him with accusation slipping through every word; that sent Komui crying even more into his emotional corner.

The door banged open and the Head Nurse came filing in, one look and they could see that she was definitely pissed. "What the hell is going on here?! I leave for a few minutes and you wreck this place! I can hear you all the way down the hall! Who was it!" she demanded and automatically fingers directed themselves towards Komui who flinched. Traitors! They had turned on him faster than vultures on their prey!

"Supervisor, I do respect you and I do support you, but..." she was trembling, probably with anger. All three, Lenalee, Lavi, and Allen scooted themselves away as the lady approached the crouching 27 year old man. Anytime now. "But when you cause destruction in MY section of the building, I'm going to have to throw you out!" she scolded loudly, in one movement, her fingers latched itself onto his ear and began to drag him away.

Lavi stuck his tongue out and Allen winced as they all waved goodbye to the sobbing Komui who was shouting at Lenalee to save him. Lenalee just shook her head and turned away from the door to sit on a chair.

"I'm sorry." she said tiredly with a wave of her hand, "I can't believe he's still so uptight, thought he'd loosen up by now." Allen and Lavi sat on the useable beds and laughed.

"It's alright, he's like that. That's what makes him so interesting." Allen grinned at her, Lenalee smiled at him in relief.

"It's embarrassing though!" she cried flinging her arms into the air, Allen patted her shoulders for her to calm down. The girl took a deep breath and settled back down, how did everything end up so weirdly!

"He's your brother, it's his job to embarrass you from time to time, don't worry about it." Allen stated with a swipe to his nose.

"You seem a lot better, I'm glad." Lenalee smiled at him, "For a moment there I was worried that gash you got wouldn't heal properly." she placed a hand on his his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Allen could only give her a fleeting smile, she always had worried too much for her own good. Perceptive too. He'd seen her in his dreams before once, where she was all alone in a place of ruins, crying by herself. It didn't very long for Allen to realize what the ruins were, they were the Order's broken walls and dead bodies that floated silently in the dark waters. Lenalee's worst fear, her hopelessness, her sole weakness was her family dying before her eyes. It was bad enough that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't protect everyone that was precious to her, but he couldn't even save her from her tears. He swore he would never make her cry and worry so much.

Lenalee glanced over to the other sleeping figure, his chest rising and falling in a systematic way. Even through the chaos that had just ensued within the room, Krory had managed to sleep right through it. It's been almost 4 days, though he had slept longer periods of time before, but there was still an uncertainty in her heart. "How's Krory doing?" she asked hesitantly with a brush of her hand against her falling strands of hair. Both the boys turned their heads to the sleeping Krory that was next Allen.

"He'll be alright. The nurse said he'll be up and about in a day or two. Plus... His stomach's been at it again." Allen shuddered, "Couldn't get a wink of sleep." he slightly growled that had Lavi busting out in laughter. The red head remembered that time right after Edo and they had been hospitalized. Krory's stomach had been such a bitch, when it growled it wasn't even a normal sounding growl, it was more like someone had let a bomb off in the room. Whoever shared a room with him was in for the same torture treatment, poor Allen. "Which reminds me, have you two gone to visit Mei yet?" asked Allen with a hand wiping his mouth.

Lenalee looked at Lavi who stared back then the two pairs of eyes glanced at Allen with a confused expression. Allen tilted his head at them, actually surprised that they didn't know about her condition. A sudden large sweep of taunting riled itself up in Allen's stomach when he peered at Lavi who arched his brows at him. Lavi had a feeling that Allen was about to say something to bug him.

"If I wasn't me I would say something awfully mean right about now, but since you are my friend, I'm going to keep my mouth shut." Allen disclosed slightly disappointed. He stood up and headed towards the door where he had first entered and the other two followed after him, quite curious as to what he was talking about. Allen pulled a jacket over his shoulders and glanced at them once more. "You really don't know?" Lenalee shook her head.

"Mei passed out in the hallway from exhaustion, Kanda found her and got her to the hospital room. She's there now, I heard she's awake from the Head Nurse." Allen explained promptly exiting the doors, he peered over his shoulder at the two who just stood there in shock. So, they really didn't know. "She's fine... She just needed to eat more for energy, she really should since she's parasitic type. I don't know what she was thinking eating minimal amount." Allen chided slightly.

Lenalee looked up at Lavi, his face was still that smiling person, but she can guess that he was almost as shocked as she was when he heard. He's probably more worried than she was, geez, it'll be alright for him to show it every now and then!

What really slightly bugged her was his job, it really was cruel sometimes. To have to shed every ounce of emotion that one harbors in itself for the sake of history. Then doesn't that mean that you yourself just turn into a tool and nothing else?

Lenalee sighed, exhausted by everything, she'll have to talk it out with his brother on what's really going on. She felt that something was awfully wrong about Mei's constant trip to the hospital.

Allen stopped and looked back at them with a small smile on his lips, Lenalee recognized it immediately. It's one that usually feels welcoming and it pulses with a strange energy that makes you want to do things... right. She knew that Allen understood the position that Lavi stood in and would at least try to encourage the boy to do what Lavi wanted to do.

"You know it's alright to go to her." Allen said with a witty tone laced into his words.

Lavi stared at him for some time before letting the color rise to his usually grinning face. He directed his eyes to the ground as he scratched his head. Lenalee had to let out a small giggle, he's so much like a child!

"But this time, we'll go with you." he chuckled, earning a small glare from the older male. Both just shared a laugh as the red head followed sullenly behind with an aggravated feeling digging into his stomach.

----

A knock resounded itself across to where Mei sat in bed with her head nodding off in daydreaming land. The door opened itself a crack and a white head popped in. Mei could clearly see bandages across his cheek and neck from his last mission; she smiled and waved for him to come in. Lenalee followed in after him with a sweet smile caressing her face. Then an unexpected visitor came through after her.

"Lavi." Mei's voice lingered in the air between them and Lavi cocked a head at her with a little grin. She hadn't expected him to know that she had collapsed, but then again if Lenalee knew than the rest of them she was pretty sure also knew of her current condition. Unknown to them, in that short amount of time, Mei felt awkward at his presence. She wasn't technically mad at him, or was she sensing something was off about him?

He stood grinding a foot into the soft glossy ground with his eyes fixated on it as if there was something spectacular written on it. "You okay, Lavi?" she asked slipping out of bed. She was still decked out in her uniform when she placed her shoes back onto her feet.

"Yeah, I'm good." he replied with a smirk, "Why? Worried?" he cracked at her. A quick ball of fire whizzed past his face, Lavi turned at the last second and it just barely grazed the tip of his nose when Lavi yelped soundly in the hospital room. He whirled his head back at Mei who just shrugged her shoulders at him with an innocent smile glazed on her face.

"What? It wasn't me." she smiled with her hands up in a shrugging motion, Allen snickered at the older teen.

They may have their share of problems in the future, but it seems like they were going to be okay. "Really, why would I want to hurt you?' She drawled sweetly with a bat of her eyelashes before running off past him with a laugh.

Lavi wouldn't have any of it, if she was going to play, then fine! Lavi Bookman was king when it came to games! He went chasing after her like some kid playing tag on the field with his friends. Laughter rang itself like jingle bells during Christmas as giggles filled the room. The hallways hasn't sounded like this in a while. Lenalee just sighed again for the millionth time that day like some aged old mother before standing up to go check on them. Allen pulled her back by yanking gently on her arm, he placed his hands on both her cheeks so that she was staring up at him. Silver and amethyst.

Lenalee took note that Allen had once again grew in height that she had to bend her neck quite a bit to look up at him. His white hair fell across his grey eyes that almost looked silver as if it was caressing his still boyish face that has been long since scarred by this war. She blinked several times at him, he always did this when she was either too flabbergasted or freaking out about something. He always seemed to have a certain control over her emotions when they went haywire, he knew how to soothe her sobs when she cried or when she was uncertain. It was strange how he was able to do all these things even though he was a year younger than her. It didn't make any sense to her since she was suppose to be the older and wiser one. Yet, every time; he got her instead.

"Let it go." he told her with a firm, but humorous tone of voice. Lenalee released her hands and placed them up in a surrendering act. She really had to learn not to get so worried all the time. "They're fine, Lenalee." he chuckled and Lenalee pouted at him from afar.

They ran down the halls, around the corners and jumped over tables. Mei felt young again, and when she thought young, she meant a kid. It's been so long since she ran just because she was having fun, not because she was running for her life. It she could, she wished this feeling would stay with her a little longer.

She heard Lavi's footsteps increasing its speed when she turned around to see him catching up to her. Mei grinned back and amped up her own speed up, she flew over a pile of boxes then slid under two men carrying a large machine. Too bad, Lavi wasn't half bad in dexterity. He'd easily made his way through by jumping over the pile and leaping across the roving tin box. Mei skidded to a halt when she reached an empty corridor, she turned and waited for Lavi to appear. Within seconds, his animated face appeared around the bend, he wiped his brow of the layer of sweat that has worked itself up on him.

"You know what Lavi? This is nostalgic. We chased each other like this..." she trailed off for a brief moment before continuing, "When we first met." she finished biting her tongue to get her heart settled.

Lavi didn't say anything, he stood dumbfounded at what she said. He had almost forgotten about that, all he remembered was her brushing him off when he saved her from the pestering Komui. No, he did remember... He always did, from the smallest details, he had always remembered everything, everyone. From the looks, she was definitely of Asian descent, but her American accent only proved that she was from the states. She didn't have the British emphasis that Allen had, or any other people that worked in the Order near London.

"You don't remember, do you?" she inquired, she sounded crestfallen but perked up the next second. "That's alright. I didn't think something so trivial would have been meaningful to you anyways." she laughed scratching her cheek.

"No. I remember, and it wasn't trivial, how can it be? It was the day I met you, 7 months and two weeks ago." he said tilting his head at her, Mei curled her lips in a smirk with her hands on her hips.

"So, you do remember than. Mr. I-can-remember-everything." she barbed with a pointed finger. "That's good. I'm glad I came though, as much as I hated coming here in the first place, no matter how much I complained to Supervisor Renee, she still insisted I came. I should really thank her one day. I got to meet you and Allen and the others, life was full of surprises after that." She took a step forward and Lavi felt like running for it, he couldn't face her like this. Not when she was telling him how grateful she was that she had met him. As much as he wanted to fling himself at her and hold onto to her, he couldn't. Not with his gramps watching, knowing, if he slipped now, he wouldn't be able to see her anymore.

"Lavi. Thank you." Mei smiled up at him. No. She's too close, too gentle, too kind, too caring. Stop it. Stop! Lavi shook his head, grief seemed to etch itself across his face, her touch, her kiss, everything was too personal. Damn it! He wanted it all!

"I'm sorry." he said with a cracking grin, a smile that had Mei squaring her brows at him in confusion. "I can't..." he stumbled, "Please forgive me for being a jerk." he said rubbing his head.

Mei stepped up closer to him so that only a only a few inches separated them, her hands shot up and grabbed each side of his face and pulled, "What the heck are you talking about!" she growled, suddenly aggravated, "What are you apologizing for?" Lavi's face contorted into a weird wince from her pinching.

She was done with people saying 'Sorry' to her all the time, no one had done anything wrong. All they had done was help her. For all the 'sorrys' she's heard, might as well make a board game out of it; it would be one hell of a game with people sitting around saying 'I'm sorry' over and over again. Mei narrowed her eyes at that particular thought, it made her shudder just thinking about it.

Lavi wanted to say, for lying, for leaving her alone, and other things that he probably did in the past that made her mad. Even so, he couldn't let the words fall out of his lips. He tried again and again there was no sound that came from his mouth. Mei gave him a strange look before letting her hands fall from his face, leaving two reddened cheeks behind. Lavi stared haphazardly into her eyes, it was so intense that Mei had to avert her gaze to something else or else he was going to burn a hole into her sockets.

"The answers aren't reflected in my eyes, Lavi." she told him, "You stare any longer you'd be searing into my brain." she said dryly.

"So it was you two that was running around in the hallways. Should have known, didn't think the rumors were true." a voice thundered itself across to them. A voice so terrifying that had both of them stepped back from each other. "This isn't some playgrounds for teenagers to be snogging each other, this is a battlefield." he said disgustingly.

Mei and Lavi both looked up at the formidable man that was walking towards them. Each step forced a wave of apprehension into her body, she wondered what it was like for Lenalee. A man who had literally tortured an Innocence into her small build back when she was still a child.

"Don't you have other people to bother, Rouvelier?" Lavi asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Or do you actually like us that much?"

Mei saw the detestation run across his face like a sickness, "Shut it, Bookman Junior. I can have your head on s silver platter if you like." Lavi shrugged at him nonchalantly.

"Hey, whatever floats your boat, man." Lavi answered him smirking."Didn't take you for a cannibal."

"Lavi, stop." Mei whispered at his side, she could see the vein popping from his temple and the glimmer of death radiating from his eyes. "Don't piss him off, it's bad enough that he's contaminating this place, I don't need him ruining my appetite either." she muttered. "What do want, Rouvelier?" Mei inquired stepping up to him.

He folded his neatly gloved hands behind him and glowered at her with a nasty grin, one that will haunt her dreams for some time, "You have an examination tomorrow morning. Since Hevlaska isn't around anymore, we have to do it by hand. It's an order, so don't go fooling around."

"Wait- what examination? For what?" Lavi beseeched pleadingly, an abrupt fear blossomed from inside like poison tainting a body. Was he going to treat her like Lenalee? He didn't know, and that emptiness of not knowing scared him. He felt a hand on his arm, he turned to look at the girl next to him who just stayed calm and composed answered the man steadily.

"Understood." she replied with a curt nod, "I'll be there, don't worry."

"One more thing. You two do know the rules that there's no fraternizing with co-workers, and the serious consequences that befall those who break that rule." he smiled half-heartedly at them as he turned to leave the two in the hallway.

"Let it go," Lavi's voice interrupted the surge of suppressed anger that was about to bowl over the edge. "There's no use fighting him, it's just like him to make people uncomfortable." Mei clenched and unclenched her fingers in agitation, there was no one else that made her so angry before. "So uh... This examination, what is it?" Mei stopped short and dropped her hands to glance at the floor.

"It's nothing, just a check up. You know..." she smiled sweetly. Lies, all lies that has to be said in order to survive in her ridiculous happiness. "Nothing to worry about." She was pretty sure even Lavi had his own secrets that he couldn't tell anyone.

Lavi kicked the floor, "Oh... Okay."

A pair of footsteps came up to them, "Lavi!" the voice penetrated itself into their heads. It wasn't a scream or a yell, it was more like a stern name call when Lavi jerked himself around to face a new presence.

"Gramps!" Lavi exclaimed a bit surprised, like he was caught doing something he wasn't suppose to. Bookman raised a questionable brow at him when he saw Mei standing next to him. "Oh, we were just talking to Rouvelier, that's it." Lavi smiled throwing both hands into the air.

Mei sensed a strange force of denial in Lavi's tone, but she wasn't too sure. She wouldn't be surprised if Lavi hadn't told his own grandfather about their relationship, not that she was going to tell anyone either. Mei would rather that their little secret stayed on the down low. Like Rouvelier said, she was too afraid of the consequences to let everyone know. But, it would've been much easier if it was out in the open than having to sneak around all the time.

"Evening, Bookman." Mei bowed slightly, when she did, Bookman and Lavi exchanged knowing looks. The old stout man threw him a thick book that exploded itself within a bubble of bust as Lavi caught it. Lavi coughed and dusted the cover of it and frowned at his grandfather.

"Are you serious?" he asked him. The old man just shrugged and walked away with a smug grin on his wrinkled aged lips.

"Tomorrow morning. I don't expect any less than what you have done so far." he announced to the red-head teen who just face-palmed his forehead and groaned. Mei couldn't help but laugh at the response, he seemed like a child drinking bitter medication.

She patted his slumped shoulder in attempt to comfort her, "You'll live, your memorizing skills are off the charts anyways."

"So...? It doesn't mean I'm going to gain back my sleeping hours for tonight." he continued with the complaints. Mei rubbed the small of his shoulder in circular motions to comfort his distraught mind.

"How about you start now and I'll get dinner for two, I'll help you in the library as much as I can. I'll even get Lenalee to send in coffee from time to time." She bribed him with a twist of her finger. "Look, if anyone that can do it... It's definitely you. You're made for this kind of stuff aren't you?" she praised. God, she felt like a mother trying to cheer up her sulking kid.

"Oh... Uh, you don't have to." he reassured her that he can do it on his own, spending too much time together would lead to slip-ups and he didn't want that. Mei frowned, uh-oh, it was that look. One that came before a temper tantrum.

"You don't want my help?" she asked pouting her lower lip at him, her eyes were big and watery. She was trying her cute expression on him, "I just wanna help! Do I annoy you that much?"

"No! No! Of course not!" he said waving both hands in front of him.

He sighed, they were just studying, right? It'll be alright- as long as she didn't come too close to him, he'll be okay. "I guess.. I'll be in the library then." He turned a bit too quickly and lost his footing for a second. He stumbled and Mei snickered, Lavi didn't turn around, just straightened himself and headed himself towards the library. Too bad she didn't see the embarrassment coloring all over his face.

"Baka," she snickered silently, she turned and hightailed out of the hall and to the kitchen.

----

She tapped her foot. The repetitive sounds were muddled in the vast majority of the wavering voices that were coming from the others. She was never the one for long lines, and her patience was already running thin. Dear lord, why was the line so god forsakeningly long?

"You're actually waiting for once." a low voice rumbled from behind her, Mei turned her head to see a pair of glaring glasses stare back at her. She would've screamed if it wasn't for them being out in the open where everyone was eating when she threw her arms around the man who picked her up easily in one move. "Hey kiddo!" he laughed thumping her back with large pats.

"Otoji-san! When did you get back?" Mei questioned excitedly, the man placed her back down. The girl looked up at the man and sized him up from head to toe, she never considered that Tiedoll was such a tall person before. Strange. To think she's known him for so long.

The man before her bellowed out a laugh that she swore could've been heard around the world, "Last night when you got back from your mission with Yuu-kun." he revealed with a pointed finger and a goofy grin. He always had that silly smile when he talks about Yuu-kun or 'Ma-kun' as he calls Marie. It was actually really cute, he considers them almost like his own children and now Chaoji was going to be part of that family too. "How is the boy anyways?" he asked with an aged finger dotted with paint tapping his grizzly chin.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him since..." she trailed off into her own thoughts. She hadn't seen him since that time in the hallway... A faint scarlet color jotted itself across her pale cheeks when her memories took her back several hours ago. She really should thank him some time soon.

Jerry's loud voice called her next when she walked over to the ordering front with a stupefied face. Her mind was a flurry of thoughts again, of how she had this inkling feeling that Kanda was a bit _**worried**_ about her when she had collapsed. Even the nurse had said that he stayed behind to watch over her. She was so into her own ramblings that she didn't even know what she ordered when Tiedoll's voice once again interrupted her daze.

"I didn't know you had taken a liking to soba." he commented lightly with a scratch to his head. Mei looked down at the meal, she actually didn't like soba. The noodles were too thick for her liking and they slipped around in her mouth like worms. Always gave her the willies when she ate them. Why had she ordered soba in the first place? She had a slight idea. In the most darkest corner of her mind she wanted to thank Kanda and seeing as he wasn't at dinner, he probably hasn't even eaten yet.

"I don't know?" she answered him awkwardly, she really had no idea asides from that little theory in her head. "Um... I guess I'll go see where Kanda is." she mumbled incoherently mostly to herself.

She still didn't understand what she was doing with her feet taking her to the outside corridor with her hands holding the soba filled tray.

Without her knowing a sly grin had made its way around the artist general exorcist, young'uns these days were absolutely amusing.


	47. Conflicted

A/N: I'm sorry that it's so late into the updating. I had a terrible accidnet with chapter 47. T.T You see, my computer thought it would be so funny as to destroy my chapter 47 just when I was just about to post it up several days ago. I, of course freaked. Cursed a like a sailor and slammed my computer several times in an attempt to retrieve it, only to fail to save that poor file. I then remembered that I had sent a copy to my friend and it was like I heard God's voice at that moment. Well, yeah... That's the story. Hah. Okay, I'll stop now. Read and review!

Chapter 47: Conflicted

The ravenous haired Japanese exorcist shifted restlessly in his once pristine bed, which was now safe to say, a pigsty of blankets and pillows. His legs were tangled in a mass lump of thin sheets and his arms were covering his shut eyes. Kanda Yuu was a man of cleanliness, he hated when things were out of order within his vicinity of peace and relaxation, but right now- he could care less. He was in too much agony to actually give a damn as to how his comforter is placed on the bed.

He thrashed again when the affliction burned itself into a numbing ache in his stomach. A coat of cool perspiration broke out over the entirety of his lanky body when he threw the blankets off. Damn it, hours before departure for a new mission and fate decides to get him sick.

Kanda had decided that he'd just slip by everyone and go on with the task handed to him; he wasn't one to slack off and not finish what he was given to do. The Asian man sat up and edged towards the brim of the bed with his legs dangling off onto the warm ground. Just when he was about to commence his plan a knock came ringing into his ears. Kanda winced; everything seemed to be magnified 10 times louder than before. It grated on his already short temper, whoever it was better be prepared for a funeral. He stalked over to the door and yanked the thin wooden door enough that only a slit of his face showed. Even if he was going to kill whoever it was, he couldn't let them know that he was sick or else they were all going to over dramatize it. He could just see that cry baby Lenalee run around frantically and that clueless idiot Mei sit there and worry.

"What?!" He growled out through the tiny opening. His eyes began to twitch even more when all he saw was the clueless idiot standing outside his doorway with a confused look on her face. Can she be anymore aggravating than she already was? God, He was just itching to use to Mugen again. "What the hell do you want, chibi? Go away!" He snapped at the girl, Mei thrusted the tray of soba through the small crack causing Kanda to stumble back into his dark room.

"What the hell, chibi! What part of 'go away' don't you understand?" He screamed at her with his long fingers rubbing his throbbing temples. He was about to explode from the pressure that was building up in his frontal lobe. A migraine was developing along with the searing distress that was attacking his lower torso.

"Geez, do you always have cute nicknames for everyone in your life?" she bit at him with the lowering of her already confused state. She didn't know why she was here; all she was going to do was say a small thank you, but it ended up with her delivering him dinner instead. She placed the tray of noodles on his Japanese like table that sat in the middle of the room. "At least have the decency to eat some of it, Tiedoll was worried about your condition so I came to check up on you." She directed at him sheepishly with a kick of her foot to the ground.

"Well, thanks. Now get out." He ordered with relentless malice. It was one thing that the girl that got on his nerves like an annoying fly that won't go away, but it's a completely different story when she's going to bring _**that**_ old man into the picture. Damn it, his head was pounding with irritation, if she didn't get out he was going to throw her out.

She stood in his dark room shifting restlessly, "Thanks for earlier," She mumbled softly. "…For taking me to the infirmary and all, Kanda."

"Okay, okay. I get it, your stupid little heart is grateful for what I did. I get it. Now get out." He ushered, he grabbed the tray of food and shoved it into her hand while he tried to push her out the door.

"Kanda, are you alright? You're acting weird." She instituted with a concerned expression. Jesus Christ, what was it going to take for this girl to leave him the hell alone? What was this, an interrogation room? Was he being crossed-examined for something he had done? He rubbed his burning eyes and gritted his teeth in agitation. "Kanda... Is something wrong?" she asked again, this time pertaining to touch his shoulder.

He snapped.

The irritation bottled inside let itself out.

All because this girl didn't let him alone.

He whirled around and slammed his hands against the walls sending a terrified girl pressed against the cold pale walls of the room. He bore into her large topaz eyes and she gawked into his, her chest heaving up and down from the sudden excitement. When did she get so into his life anyways? He could never seem to turn her away, yet with all the nasty things he's said to her, she'd finally get the idea that he doesn't like her and doesn't want to be around her. Shit, first Lenalee, now her? Life gets better by the second.

"Didn't I tell you to get the hell out of my room?" He threatened darkly with his obsidian eyes staring straight into her. Mei would've been a lot more petrified if it wasn't for the flushed colors that has washed itself across his face and the heaving told her that something was awfully wrong with him. Plus, his voice wasn't covered in that same mass of hate as it was before.

"Okay... No need to get so riled up. I was just worried." She said gently with down casted eyes. Kanda rolled his dark orbs at her, making her glare at him from underneath her bangs.

"Well, I don't need your concern." He shot back roughly. Mei gripped the tray tighter and bit her bottom lip.

"Are you always such a jerk?" She asked looking up at his ebony eyes, so close were they that she could see the dotted gray that speckled itself across his eyes. She could also see the small beads of sweat that were slipping down his pale skin, his breath on her skin in a steady breathing pattern.

"Are you always such an annoyance?" He raised his brow at her that caused her to chuckle at his small joke. They fell silent again; a strand of hair fell towards her eyes when he brushed it aside to get a better look at those topaz eyes. Her eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of his room; even without the light they were illuminating against his own. She had infinite eyes that he never seems to comprehend.

Her breathing slowed down to a miniscule crawl when she felt his cool fingertips tickle the edge of her skin, an electric jolt went through her system. He wasn't even really touching her and already she felt very excited and scared. Her eyes fell closed making her long lashes brush against her cheeks. Her nerves crackled in her body when his breath fanned itself slightly above her shoulder. Mei's mind stumbled upon itself; she didn't know what to do in this awkward situation. Things like this don't normally happen to her, especially with a man like Kanda. There was something strange about Kanda that made the back of her mind ask questions like, was he seriously doing what he was doing? Mei could feel that his temperature was slightly warmer than usual and this piqued her concern.

She placed a free hand on his arm that was covered in a layer of cold sweat and pushed him away slightly. Mei couldn't do this to Lavi, she just couldn't bring herself to hurt him. She looked up at the Asian man, "Ka… Kanda." She mumbled out under the stressful position she was in. "Kanda." She tried again, this time much more firmly, "I can't." The words fell out of her lips in a hurry.

Kanda stepped back; Mei could clearly see the shock and disbelief that was etched into his face. He took another step back before covering his face with a hand. Mei stumbled towards the door, completely crimson in the face. "I'll leave the food outside. Eat it, or Tiedoll will get mad. Later." She said awkwardly before shutting the door.

Kanda stared after the closed door and sat back down roughly on the edge of his unkempt bed. He leaned back and stared at the ceiling. He was losing his composure too easily. That girl made his mind jumble up whenever he sees her, just every time it was like he couldn't help but get mad at her. Kanda didn't understand what the hell was going on with him. Usually, he could keep a clear head except Mei had a strange talent in pissing him off. She was almost as bad as Lavi. What happened the last minute made his stomach knot up even worse than before. He had gotten so caught up in her eyes that his body reacted on its own. He ran a frustrated hand through his bangs and grunted in irritation, he didn't understand at all, what the fuck was going on?!

Mei closed the door behind her with a soft click and in another second fell to the floor with the try clattering to the ground next to her. She leaned her back against the dreary wooden door and heaved a breath. She felt like she had just been underwater back there. Mei was shaking so bad that she couldn't get a hold of herself, something was ticking inside of her and it scared her. Her mind was whirling with second thoughts and strange nonsense that made no sense to her. In the deepest cavern of her mind, she knew she was attracted to Kanda, she just wished it weren't true.

Mei shifted the tray on the ground towards the front of his door and started running back towards the lirbray. At the moment her mind was too blurry to think things straight. She had to see Lavi, he'll make things right.

----

He had fallen asleep with the book drawn open at its wrinkled pages, his soft snores were the only things that occupied the otherwise silent library. The lights flickered on and off before it stayed illuminating the whole of the book lounge. His head was dipped slightly over his shoulder with a bit of drool dripping off its edges.

Mei sighed taking a tissue from her pockets and started wiping it off when he stirred and opened his dreary eyes to look up at her. She smiled and finished wiping the rest of the wet saliva from his chin. He grinned and pulled her closer to use her as a pillow, he snuggled in and tucked his head into her chest and began to drift off again. Mei sighed at him before pushing a little back.

"Lavi, not right now." She murmured softly, prying his fingers from her waist and he groaned in opposition. She didn't have the energy to play with him today. She heard him sniff a little.

"Where's my food?" He asked with his eyes still closed, he buried his head deeper into the folds of her uniform. "I'm hungry." he stated with a frown. Mei stroked his hair in a comforting way, she had totally forgotten.

"Sorry, I forgot..." She confessed, "I'll go back and get you something." She suggested with a shrug of her shoulders when Lavi shook his head at her.

"It's okay, I'll eat later. I'll just drift into a food coma if I eat now." He said, "I'll ask Jerry later." He mumbled with a yawn.

"Sorry," She apologized again, she pointed to the book and pulled at his cheeks again, "You should be studying right now. You can't afford to let Bookman find you slacking off; he'll really want your ass then." She frowned heavily with lined lips.

Lavi jerked awake suddenly and pulled away quickly, but calmly so that she didn't think that he was doing this on purpose. Great. The one conversation he didn't want to remember she just had to bring it up. It wasn't even that long into the evening and already he was going back to his old habits. Well, not that she knew about it or anything.

Lavi shifted uncomfortably in his seat on the carpeted floor. The stinging pain in his cheeks were becoming unbearable at this point when he latched his hand on hers and made her release his face. He had to be careful from here on out, watch what she did and watch himself too. "They won't come in here." He retorted defensively making her roll her eyes. He sat up and rubbed his palm against his one good eye. "Gramps leaves me alone for awhile when I study." He yawned again as he stretched his arms out.

Mei fidgeted in her seat on the ground next to him, what happened earlier with her and Kanda made her guilt trip even worse. The secrets were just piling up against each other like flapjack pancakes. She had wanted to discuss with Lavi earlier on about the meeting she had with Tyki. It wasn't intentional to begin with and she had no feelings for him what-so-ever. She had just wanted to know the truth, which was the reason why she chose to do the things she did with him. The circumstances weren't too wide of an option for her back then. Mei had planned to tell him. Lavi noticed her distant and far-off look in her eyes and glanced at her from beneath.

"Oiiiii!" He waved his hand in front of her face, "Oiiii! Mei-channnn!" He called out when she snapped out of her reverie.

"Wha- What?" She asked out loud and Lavi laughed at her, "Jeez. Must you laugh at me about everything?" she mumbled dejectedly. Lavi shook his head and held his stomach; his other hand slapped his knee. Mei's lower lip trembled before she pushed him aside. He fell sideways when a loud grumble rang into the vicinity of the library. Mei blinked at Lavi who just stared back at her, her lips parted in a breaking smile when giggles erupted from her. "Okay, we're even." He snorted at her when he stood up with a smirk on his lips.

"I'm going to get something to eat, I'm actually starving. You want anything?" He asked going towards the main door and Mei shook her head. She watched his back arch slightly from his walk and his thumping footsteps. That thing nagging at her heart was telling her to do so and Kanda's voice kept at it in her mind. Mei licked her lips before raising a hand towards the disappearing red head.

"Uh… Lavi?" She spoke out; he turned and smiled, "Let's talk... When you get back, okay? There are things I need to tell you." She said complacently. She wasn't going to hide anymore, at least not to him; she wanted him to know that he's someone important that she's willing to share her secrets with. Even if her world was just all little puzzling, she's willing to finally ask for help.

----

Tyki blew out bubbles from the little plastic stick that came with a bottle of soapy water. It was kind of fun if you knew how to blow it right. His mind has been wandering again; he had searched low and high for that girl from last night. But she was nowhere to be seen after she left the party, she and her mate had become quite the talk of town- what with them arguing with one of the prime minister's daughter. It was amusing how mere humans react to the looks of men, but the way Lady Rouge held herself made Tyki tremble with excitement. If he could just find her, he couldn't wait to get his hands on her. The ways he could kill her and watch her die in her own blood, it made him shiver with ecstasy.

`"Tykiiiiii." Rodo's shrill voice came ringing into his ear; she bounded over to him and leaped onto to him like a leech. "Are you still looking for that girl? You've searched everywhere almost and father has tried locating her through his connections. It's like she doesn't exist. Why don't you just give up? She's just a human girl." She asked, her face drawn of full boredom.

The Earl had taken Lero so Rodo was left with no one to play with. They were currently at an ice cream parlor, sitting outside under an umbrella as Tyki used his other hand to swish his already melted vanilla ice cream. The Earl had disappeared off to who-knows-where, but he had told them that the second egg was about to be finished. It had taken a lot of time and sweat for him, but it's almost there. So as for now, Rodo and Tyki were just procrastinating their time instead of putting it to good use. Since the Earl had left them tasks to do, and that was to get their last task done. For a bunch of super humans, procrastination was a strong point for them.

"We're human too," He countered a bit without real effort, he continued to stare out into the busy streets that were littered with walking pedestrians and passing carriages. A force propelled itself towards his lower torso, Tyki keeled over for a second to glare at Rodo. "Why do you always hit me there!" He gritted through his teeth.

"Sorry. I forget sometimes. Does it still hurt from the last time I hit you?" She asked in concern, Tyki just winked at her.

"Only when you hit that hard." He answered swiftly sitting back into the chair, "Don't worry, I'll find her, where can one measly human travel off to?" He laughed. "Come one, let's go before Cyril wants my ass for stealing you too long." He said taking her hand in his.

The ride home towards the large house that sat at the edge of the country was quiet, but Rodo made sure to have kept an eye out for Tyki. He's been acting strange lately, ever since that ball they had and that girl. She had definitely seen her at the party, but she didn't her much thought. She didn't think she'd have that much affect on him, it wasn't like him, and it was as if he was _interested_.

The carriage pulled itself up at the front door when Rodo and Tyki stepped out from it. They headed towards the door and knocked on the knocker, it took a few minutes when Cyril's bright shining face appeared behind it.

"Tyki! Have you come to visit your dear brother again! Come here and give me a ki-" Cyril crooned with out stretched arms, but his face was smacked off by Tyki's gloved ones before he could finish.

"Don't be gross, brother." He mouthed out sending Rodo off into fits of giggles. Tyki took off his tall hat and coat and handed it to the butler. Tyki then continued to head straight for the yard. His favorite place out of the whole house, he liked being out in the open air, he felt freer than being shut inside the house. "How are the diplomatic issues going?" Tyki asked, not really interested, but if he didn't get him talking, he'd probably go off talking about other stupid stuff.

"Great! Just fabulous!" Cyril replied loftily swinging Rodo into his arms; he cuddled her and sent her off to change, "Isn't she cute? Ah, so cute, so cute!" he sighed with a heavy longing on his face.

"Really Cyril, you're just being creepy now." Tyki said brusquely, waving his hand at a few maids that passed by. Cyril frowned at him with both his hands under his chin, "And no, I'm no going to fall for that disgusting look of yours."

"Don't be bitter, you really should consider getting married you know. I know I love this life! Even the Earl has no objections!" Cyril squealed with hearts wafting around him, my god, he looked like a school girl even more now. "I mean you have so many eligible ladies, aren't you interested in any of them?"

A dark look passed over Tyki's face, a smile creeping its way forward when his lips curled around its corners, "One... Just one." Cyril seemed optimistic and giddy.

"Finally! I thought you would never say! Who is it? Do I know her? It's that girl you're making me look for right? Oh! I heard she's cute!" He cried walking over to the couch and plopping himself down, "Come sit and tell me all about her! Rodo mentioned that she saw her last night at the ball, too bad I couldn't get to meet her."

"You've got to lay off the sugar, Cyril." Tyki mentioned sitting on the far left, a good whole yard away from his brother. "Is Tricia home?" He hadn't seen the fragile lady since the party.

"Now you're just being sour again. Don't worry, we'll find her soon enough." Cyril piped up happily. He snapped his finger and a butler arrived with a silver plate in hand that was adorned with a set of tea cups and pot. "Tricia went out to shop for awhile so I'm looking after the house."

The doorbell rang again and this time they could hear a familiar voice enter through the front when a maid's voice could be heard greeting the man that had arrived at Cyril's residence. Cyril placed his tea down and crossed his leg over the other awaiting him to arrive, and swiftly with much poise, the Earl walked through the archway of the living room.

"Evening, Tyki-pon, Cyril." He nodded at them, Tyki grimaced at the name call. He hated when he did that. "I'm glad you two are here, I was in dire need of talking to you two anyways." His face was thrown into the shadows of the house when he sat down with the cane in his hand.

Cyril shot up before Tyki could say anything, "My lord! Tyki has finally found a lady he wants to marry! I think preparations are in order!" Tyki's head shot around towards Cyril in an incredulous expression.

"What?! I never said that! Don't be ridiculous!" He retorted fruitfully, Cyril threw him a smile, one that made skin crawl with goosebumps.

"That's great to hear, Tyki! And like I said, I have no objections in you getting married." The Earl's voice resounded back, making Tyki even more hopeless than before. He was going to kill Cyril for even brining it up.

"How's the plan coming along?" Cyril probed picking up his tea again and taking a sip, "I know the egg's finally done, you think we can proceed to the next step? Even with the destruction of the first egg, we still have the upper hand."

The Earl was silent then shifted forward in his seat, even in the dim glow of the house Tyki and Cyril could sense the intimidating grin behind the shadows. "We're close in getting into the second act of our show. We have the south and central Pacific Islands ever since Lulu Bell got rid of that pesky Oceania supervisor and we have Russia along with Japan. It's going to be easy to get Germany, even with the Vatican there. The western states are ours too, not to mention Korea. Soon my dear children the world shall fall to be ours."

"There are still the eastern states, middle east, China, South America, and Africa... London itself, the location where the Order is set up." Tyki listed with worry. "There's still so much left. Are you sure we're going according to plan, my lord?"

"Do not worries, Tyki. China will fall eventually... They are surrounded by countries that are in our control. When everywhere else falls, the Black Order can't do anything but fall along with them. They can only fight for so long; they are but a game piece, Tyki. They were never a threat before, exception to the time they destroyed the first egg that cost me a fortune. I had poured a lot of sweat and blood into it too and I will make them pay, especially now that the 14 is with them."

The Earl sounded mad, and he rarely gets mad. "I must get going as to see how the Egg is finishing up, the skulls should be done with it. What are you two still sitting here for? Don't you have jobs to do?" He barked giddily in that forever happy tone of his.

Tyki and Cyril both jumped up and made a dash for the door with Cyril shouting for Rodo to come down. Rodo popped her head from the balcony when she spotted the Earl walking by.

"Earl-tama!" She cried out with joy, for a split second Rodo forgot about being a 'normal' human and jumped off the balcony. There were screams from above and below when Tyki reacted by stretching his arm out and catching the girl by the back of her dress. Rodo dangled in his hand and pouted. "Is Earl-tama not happy to see me?" She mumbled and the Earl laughed with his large stomach booming. The maids upstairs were calling for Rodo to see if she was okay, Cyril waved at them to tell them that everything was fine.

"Rodo, honey! You mustn't ever do that again. You'll scare the others!" Cyril chastised the girl with a wag of his finger.

"Sorry, father. I just got over excited when I saw Earl-tama." She answered cutely that sent Cyril over the edge with a nosebleed. Tyki scoffed heavily under his breath, he set the girl back down. The large man patted the little girl's head.

"Rodo... It is time." He smiled.


	48. Secrets & Ignorance

A/N: AHAHAHAHA! I was reading up on another DGM story and the author said if she had owned Kanda she would make sure that he wore tight pants everyday and that he was shirtless... Classic. I loved it. :D (I know it's super late... But it's hard updating when my mind is starting to come up with different story ideas... And I have a tendency to start up a zillion stories at a time. ): And I noticed that not that many reviews are coming in... Sniffle. Thought I would wait a bit longer before updating, but I guess that's not going to happen!) Please read and review!

Chapter 48: Secrets & Ignorance

He remembered the first time he stepped through those doors that belonged to the Black Religious Order. He had to stand there for who knows how long, listening to that massive head patrolling the Order outskirts go on about his name that he didn't care to remember. He also recalled Tiedoll holding his hands the whole time they were being examined, or more like he stood there while Kanda was being checked. The old tall man was holding what he learned was to be called his 'Innocence', it took form of a katana, something familiar from his homeland. They had traveled far from his home to reach headquarters, but he had nowhere else to go anyways. His home was destroyed and his family killed, he couldn't turn back that day he accepted his responsibilities as an exorcist.

When they entered they were greeted by a man that wore glasses, he was like an angel with a quirky smile that was dressed in all white. He had black long hair tied in a ponytail back then before he cut it, he also had those strange glimmering dark eyes. He held in one hand, a pile of notes and the other a blue cup decorated with a strange pink bunny on it. It steamed what smelled like black coffee from within it, colorless... Just like this whole building. Everything inside was large and grey, it felt like a prison than his new home. Without meaning to, he gripped harder onto Tiedoll's warm aged hands. He could feel the wrinkles upon his own small ones, crusty paint blotches that decorated his hand felt so familiar and nice. It made him feel safe.

Small running footsteps came from behind the man named Komui, a head popped from the folds of his large pallid jacket that was adorned with a silver crest. He would later learn what that symbol meant for him and his future, but as for now he was still clueless. A young girl peered curiously at him with large violet eyes that pulsated with energy, he could tell she was the giggly lets-be-friends type and his irritation level spiked. Komui introduced the two and he was told her name was Lenalee. She had long dark hair just like Komui, and she had a baby doll face with grinning pink lips. Lenalee had smiled at him that day, Kanda knew she would be trouble. They shook hands before Tiedoll lead him away from the two to find his room for him.

It didn't take Kanda very long to top the list as one of the most advanced fighter exorcists there is in the Order and it didn't take long for people to start avoiding him since he never seemed to talk- only glared. Except Lenalee, she had constantly sparked up conversations with him, mostly with him listening. At first he tried his best to avoid her, yet she always seemed to find him no matter where he was. Slowly he just stopped trying, he didn't tell her to go away, but neither did he invite her over for company. Kanda learned to except a lot of his circumstances while he was at the Order. Just like how he had to except the fact that the main headquarters is being led by an idiot named Komui Lee, a carefree, emotional, disorganized, and weird supervisor. He was willing to bet his life that one day Komui's curiosity would kill him. Good riddance.

Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months until years rolled by, it wasn't too soon before Komui took notice of the tattoo and lotus flower timer he had in his room. He had intentionally kept it away from the others so they wouldn't ask. Well, Komui never did, but Kanda couldn't hide it from him as it started to grow after certain missions. Komui knew something was wrong, what else could Kanda do in this situation. The secret of the tattoo, the curse of his life shortening in order to keep himself alive to search for someone if he ever died. Komui was horrified by the very idea of it, only because he was appalled that a child like him had to carry this burden. All Kanda wanted to say was that he had long since shouldered this burden alone when he saw his family perish. Nothing could've been worse off than that in life.

Years passed and he grew older, at 16 years of age he met the annoying Lavi and his grandfather who joined the rankings of the exorcists as Bookmans, didn't necessarily knew what they did except that they recorded things. Of what, he didn't really care. It was then the dysfunctional family began to grow, there was Daisya, Marie, and Lenalee whom he had already met when they were still kids. Then Lavi, who won't stop calling him names and Bookman, then another two years Miranda Lotto, Arystar Krory, and Moyashi joined them. With Moyashi, rivalry ensued between the two. Yet, his secret was never shared, Komui had told him to keep quiet, it wasn't like he was planning to tell anyone.

Secrets, life was all about secrets and lies. That's how he grew up to believe because it was what he saw.

Then why was it so hard to lie to her, to keep their secrets safe. He didn't understand how one particular girl from across the globe got to him so easily. It pissed him off. It's proving that he couldn't deal with her, after so many years of practice and still he was beaten. He hated losing.

Kanda didn't know how long he sat there, but it was sometime since he was pretty sure it was at least thirty minutes since he heard her footsteps run off from his room. He still couldn't bring himself to stand up and look outside, everything ached and his stomach was killing him almost. He could handle it, he'd been through worse- he'd died couple of times.

Kanda grunted using the walls to support him when a grumbling noise erupted from his stomach. He hadn't eaten since lunch. How annoying. Kanda opened his door when his foot hit the tray of food that was outside his room. It was the tray of soba that Mei had brought earlier, she had really meant him to eat it. Kanda exhaled a breath and shook his head softly, he bent down and lifted the tray into his room in silence.

----

Mei stared at the cover of the book that was blocking her view of Lavi's face. It was so covered in dust that she couldn't make out what it said, but she wasn't interested. She continued to stare at the book with a bored face when she felt her chin go numb from the hours of supporting her head on the table. She bent her stretched out arms and scratched the top of her head to distract her inattentive mind that was going to sleep. This was so dull, Lavi had been at the book for hours now, totally absorbed into it. They've been sitting there for who knows how long, but she was sure it was a while.

The library was silent except for the mini grand clock that was ticking on the wall. _Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. _An hour before she had been staring at the clock counting minutes that went by before she actually fell asleep and woke up to see that Lavi hadn't changed his position. It wasn't that she was annoyed that he was so focused in getting the book memorized, but he could at least talk to her a little. She was here to help. He didn't have to completely ignore her existence. He's been acting so strange since a little before the meeting with Rouvelier. Mei wondered if something happened.

She watched his left eye zoom across the words that was written in the book, he looked so concentrative right, almost the opposite of the silly and sarcastic Lavi that she knew. Even if she had been here for some time now and they had shared the same feeling- she didn't really know Lavi that much. Like where he was from or what he liked to do when he has free time, all these things and she didn't have an answer to any of them. How inexperienced she was in this game of teenager crushes. She slipped her hand over to his and was about to tap his finger to get his attention when he drew in his hand and placed the book down on the table to glance at her.

Mei's brow retracted themselves together, she just smiled at him and shook her head. She didn't want to disturb his studying right now, she can ask him later. Yet it still feels like a slap to her heart when he did that. He blinked at her several times before going back to reading, she made sure he wasn't looking before she hid her face in her folded arms. She didn't want him to see her when she was frowning in disappointment.

The clock on the wall gonged 11 o clock, Mei stifled a yawn when she turned her drooping eyes towards the clock. Mei looked up back at where Lavi sat and groaned to herself. She's been sitting here since 6. Four hours and still she was sitting here doing nothing, she assumed Lavi wasn't going to need any of her help when she stood up catching his attention.

"I'm going to bed first..." She said softly pushing the chair back under the table. "Don't stay up too late, even if Johnny and the others do come by this way." She warned with a small smirk. He grinned back at her with a nod.

She didn't know what to do, if she should go over and give him a goodnight hug like she normally does or just walk away. Lavi was already back reading the book with a hotdog stick in his mouth when Mei decided against her first option. It didn't look like he would seem too interested in it anyways. She peeked at him once more before walking towards the large door, she opened it and slipped out of view.

Lavi heard the door close quietly after Mei's graceful exit from the library, he listened to her steps fade until he couldn't hear it anymore before dropping the book onto the table. He threw his head back with his foot tilting the chair with it, he rubbed his eye then sighed in loss. He didn't want to do the things he did, seeing her react so staidly to his actions made him feel awful about himself. Lavi didn't want to be a jerk, but he also didn't want to leave either. If he could tell her, he would in a heartbeat. At least then she would know what was going on and hopefully forgive him for being an ass to her all day today.

Why did it have to come to this kind of situation anyways? There could've been other alternatives right? But Lavi knew that there wasn't. The boy stared at the inverse surrounding, books after books stared back at him with quiet gesture. Books were suppose to give people answers to their problems, then where was his own solution? He was pretty sure no matter how many books he looked up and researched, he wouldn't be able to find his answer in the pages. Man, life seemed too difficult at this point, hurting people just wasn't his idea of fun.

He fell back into the straight posture to pick up his book, he didn't know what to do anymore. He felt like even though he was trying so hard, he was still losing her.

----

The halls were dark and empty, most of the people were already asleep except the science department maybe. Rouvelier had them research deeper into Alphonse's notes on the Babylonian tower theory, which meant that Lenalee will probably be up making coffee if her brother hadn't already ushered her off to bed. It was a good thing that she had taken a different route to her room, she wasn't up for a conversation if she had bumped into someone accidently on her way back.

Mei's hand landed on her side pocket where she kept her golem when she noticed that it was empty. She checked her other pockets to make sure that it was surely gone from the place where she had put Tiki. Yes, he was definitely gone. She started to panic a bit, she had lost Tiki! That was like Allen losing Timcampy! Tiki had been with her since she was small, nothing else can replace him. Her father had given Tiki to her when he left for one of his missions, she couldn't have possibly had lost something so sentimental.

Mei thought back to where she had been today, she was pretty sure she had him this morning up until the meeting. After the meeting she... She blacked out and Kanda had taken her to the infirmary. The picture still sent a blaze through her system when she shook her head roughly. So he could be from the hallway to the library, but surely not the library since she would've seen him when she left. Which left Kanda's room and the infirmary room. She didn't want to bother Kanda this late at night, he'd probably bite her head off if she did. Then the hospital room it is. She turned around and ran down the opposite corridor.

He rummaged quietly through the cupboards of the infirmary trying to find a stomach ache pill. He didn't know what the hell the labels read since it was all scientific terms which he didn't understand. There were some amoxillian, whatever that is, and there were bottles for throats, but no killing stomach pain ones. That really grated on his nerves, he's been looking through the place for the last 15 minutes and still he wasn't able to find something that would alleviate his pain?! Wasn't this the hospital room! He didn't hear the footsteps that were approaching the room with the sound of his own searching going on.

The doors opened a bit when Mei's head poked in, she spotted a light source and a tall man standing before the cupboards when she walked in. "Kanda?" Her voice recoiled against the walls. "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" She asked walking towards him.

"That should be my question, baka chibi." He muttered under his breath. Kanda didn't fluster, just kept looking for some sort of med that would help him with his stomach pains. Her voice was just a small distraction in his head. He pushed past cough syrups and curing diarrhea liquids. A jolt of pain seared through his lower torso where his stomach was and winced, Mei noticed and hurried over with concern written all over her face.

"Kanda!" She placed a hand on his arm, he shot her a death glare before he flinched clutching his stomach. She frowned at him, "I know you don't like me, but right now it seems like you're not well so it's no time for you to be bickering with me." She said gently. "Will you tell me what's wrong?" She inquired softly pushing him away from the board.

"Nothing." He answered her looking away with a stubborn face and crossed arms in front of his chest. Mei threw him an annoyed expression before turning to rearrange the bottles back to where they were. "My stomach hurts that's all." He slipped out embarrassingly, his obsidian angry eyes still staring off into the dark. He heard a giggle, Kanda scoffed and folded his arms across his chest.

"Cacogastirc... Or the correct term would be gastroenteritis." She stated firmly flipping bottle after bottle to examine each label for a suitable medication for Kanda. She picked one out and turned to face him with the bottle in hand. "Stomach flu." She said with a smile. She walked over to him with the gap between them getting smaller by each second until she was centimeters away from his face.

"What the crap are you doing?" He asked angrily pushing her away, Mei sighed pushing her hair behind her ear. She approached him, this time gingerly and pressed her hand against his so he wouldn't push away. Kanda shut his eyes, not understanding why she was doing this, but the bright red goodness he called a 'blush' crawled itself across his pale face again.

"Stand still," She piped in straightforwardly pushing him down. She placed her forehead gently against his oddly warm ones and sighed. "You're definitely running a fever, Kanda." She stated with a worried look, "If we don't treat it, it can be fatal." There still wasn't a surefire way to cure fevers and this had her fretful.

The boy staggered back with guilt written all over his face, Mei bit her lower lips. "I'm going to get the nurse." She decided quickly, she moved her way towards the door when Kanda grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

"Don't. I can handle it. I'm fine." He interjected with another labored breath, his breathing were turning into wheezes. Mei examined the seemingly distraught boy and lamented at his poor decisions, was his ego so big that he was willing to sacrifice his own health for it? Now who was the idiot? "Just give me the medication and I'll be fine by tomorrow." He demanded with an outstretched hand. "I still have a mission tomorrow, baka chibi!"

"No way. One more reason not to give you this medication. You can't go, not in your condition." She exclaimed loudly, holding the vial closer to herself. Kanda wasn't listening to her, with one swipe of his long arms he took the brown container from her hands and walked away. "He- Hey!" She stammered going after him. They exited the infirmary and out into the corridor with Mei jogging after Kanda, completely forgetting about her first priority as to why she was there. She watched his long strides clack against the marble ground when a question floated into her head, one that she suspected why he might have contracted the stomach flu so easily.

"Kanda... When was the last time you had a break from your missions?" She asked curiously. He didn't answer her, that would explain why his immune system was low and prone to catching such a sickness; he hadn't rested in between any of his assignments. He was exhausting his body, pushing it to the breaking point. "Will you at least talk to me, Kanda?" She asked aggravated. She had, at that point, stopped walking to watch Kanda's back disappearing in the hall.

"Damn it, Kanda. For just a few seconds... Swallow that pride of yours and let others help you for a minute. It's not that difficult to ask." She stressed in between each word with clenched fists at her side. Kanda stopped in his tracks with his ashen hands tightly clenched at either side. Only silence followed after that caused Mei to twitch in discomfort, had she said too much?

"Don't be a hypocrite." He reasoned with his face turned towards her with a jeer of anger. "You're also hiding... You couldn't even bring yourself to say anything in Komui's office." He retorted with much vehemence.

Mei couldn't stand his stubbornness, it was ridiculous and he was such a pig-headed idiot. Didn't he notice that she was worried about him? He was also a friend and comrade of hers and she wouldn't be able to let herself go knowing that he was going out in that condition to fight. She knew Kanda was persistent and straightforward about the things he did, but even he had a limit at some point.

She didn't know that she was shaking so badly from his words when her teeth started to clatter together in anger, what he said hurt. Hurt more than she had anticipated, it stung more than the times he called her names, or the times when he snarled at her with annoyance and irritation. This time, Mei felt that he really meant what he said. Damn it, he didn't even a know anything about her, all he did was keep everything to himself. What did he know?

"It's not the same, the circumstances were different." She fought back, she felt the fire bubbling beneath a thin layer of resistance before the lid was about to blow. "I thought... I thought you were more than this, Kanda Yuu. When people talked ill of you, I've always brushed it aside. I wanted to know you as you, as Kanda... I didn't want to listen to them and their gossip rumors about you. I guess I was wrong." She disclosed slowly with a heavy smile, but her brows were knitted tightly together in disappointment.

"Just to let you know. Me and you, the circumstances... Aren't different. Everyone has their secrets, so stop prying." And he left just like that, with a shattered Mei standing their glaring hard at the boy that had stood only several feet away from her just a moment ago.

----

Lavi watched the moonless sky dance with glittering stars, his hand under his chin for support. His mind has been weaving in and out of his thoughts that fluttered in from time to time. The book he was reading in the library stayed silent next to him on his dresser drawer. Lavi sat in his room, ready for bed, but just continued to stare out his window in a thoughtless stupor.

He was wishing, wishing so hard that he knew what he was doing, whether the choices he was making was right or wrong. Yet, dreams alone wouldn't get him far in what he wanted to achieve the truth. He knew he couldn't deny his inner feelings anymore, the ones that'll probably shake his world if he ever uttered them. He had known from the start when he felt that warm feeling flow from her touch that he might just as well like her. That was what he thought at first, he was too scared to even think of the possibility that he could ever find someone to actually be _**in love**_ with. If everything went wrong, he only had himself to answer to, because inevitably he was in love with her.

Mei scrunched herself into a tight ball under her covers, her mind laced with worry and confusion. She was slightly still mad at Kanda for saying the things he did, but she couldn't bring herself to keep being mad at him because what he said was only the truth. She didn't want others to know of her condition, she didn't want them helping her only to find out about the actual truth. If it was possible she would want to take her secret to her own grave. She knew Komui and the Riba probably knew already that her body was undoing itself under the pressure of her Innocence. She could already feel it in her body, becoming weaker with each battle. Mei didn't want to admit it, but for once in her life, she was really scared.

Her mind was full of problems and issues that she couldn't figure out, the one that was sticking out like a sore thumb was the thing with both Kanda and Lavi. One that she didn't want to figure, she rather let herself be blinded by her ignorance than to know the truth. Two men, from opposite sides of the personality chart and she just had to put herself in the middle. Mei was pretty sure that she didn't like Kanda like that, the way she likes Lavi... But, Kanda struck something in her that always made her breathless, the intensity of his eyes, the touch of his rough but gentle hands, his pale face under dark ebony colored hair. He was like a myth that she couldn't live in.

She couldn't figure it out and it was leaving her with knots in her stomach. Mei bit down on her finger and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping sleep would take her away soon so her mind wouldn't be so bothered by the fact that Kanda was still sick and her never ending problems with Lavi.

A disgruntled young man slept uncomfortably in his futon when he threw his cover off of himself. He sat up with a deep frown etched on his face, he couldn't sleep. The bottle of pills stood cold and bare on his bedside table with a glass cup next to it. His head was too cluttered about other useless things that were littering itself in his mind. Couldn't he go through one godforsaken day without having someone butt into his life? Jesus Christ!

Kanda ran a hand through his dark long mane before getting back into bed, he took a deep breath and let his mind turn still, he didn't want to think about it. The face that kept resurfacing itself into his head, because if he did, he didn't think he'd be able to live with himself again.


	49. Miles on End

A/N: Disclaimer- I don't own anything that Hoshino-sama came up with, I just own the story plot of this story and several of the make-up characters that I had added into the story. If I had own DGM... (*Mind wandering*). Please read and review! Thanks. (:

Chapter 49: Miles on End

Komui ran through the pile of papers and groaned with much disinterest, the words had all started to conglomerate into one gigantic piece of black blob on each paper. He was afraid from all the paperwork that Riba had given; he'd developed dyslexia of some sort. He rifled the rest of the papers before pushing them onto the floor. The Asian man rubbed his excruciatingly exhausted eyes and yawned, he needed a nap. Komui picked up the empty coffee mug and motions it in a dumping gesture, damn. He was also out of coffee.

Ever since Rouvelier had managed to come back down to headquarters, there seemed to be more paperwork than ever. On normal occasions it was already a lot to begin with, so one can only imagine what it was like now. Komui can safely say that his office has now become at least shin deep in papers that he never got done signing. It takes a few minutes to waddle through the pile to get to the door. Komui sighed glancing at the floor. He felt like dying, it's been almost two days since he properly slept, he'd taken naps in between each session, but still, the lack of it was tormenting.

A soft knock from the door tells him that it was Lenalee bringing in more coffee for the day. Hooray to that! Another second the doors opened up to reveal a dissatisfied Lenalee walking in with a tray of hot brewed coffee. It must've been the papers that are upsetting her, she'd usually scold him for not being on task, but this was just a whole new level of laziness. Komui smiled at her from behind his glasses, hoping she'd forgive him this time and the next several hundred times. Lenalee just lowered her brows and squared a hard disapproving stare at him. Komui raised his hand in a placate way to tell her that he gives up.

"At least learn to clean up while you're at it. We can barely move in this pile of mess you call your office!" She chided. She picked up his mug and poured in the dark scathing liquid and placed it back in an empty spot. "Ne, nii-san... Can I talk to you for a moment?" Lenalee asked quietly pouring another cup for herself. She continued on pouring in the milk and cubes of sugar, she didn't like her coffee black like her brother.

"What is it, Lenalee?" Komui inquired, he looked at his sister and caught her worried expression slipping into a thoughtful one. "Did something happen, Lenalee?" he asked with concern. Komui laced his finger through the handle of the ceramic cup and took a long sip of the delicious and warm coffee that sat before him. Lenalee shook her head airily; she seemed bothered to say what she wanted to say, as if she was too embarrassed.

Lenalee didn't want to pry into any situations where her brother might be in a tight spot, torn between sharing it with his sister and his duty as the supervisor. Lenalee tightened her grip of her hands on her lap when the door knocked; Komui pursed his lips in irritation. He turned an apologetic grin to Lenalee who understood, their job came first. Lenalee was in the midst of cleaning up the coffee equipment when Mei stuck her head in.

"Sorry, Komui... Am I interrupting?" She asked. The curly haired supervisor shook his head and motioned her to come in.

"No, I was just leaving." Lenalee said happily exiting the room. Mei gave Lenalee a smile and the other girl nodded. "Don't bully my brother too much, okay?" She teased which earned a frown from Komui.

Mei laughed, "Alright, promise." The girl focused her attention back on the man, "Komui, has Kanda left yet?" She asked hastily. She seemed to be in a hurry and that caused Komui to worry a bit, especially if it had to do with Kanda. Kanda had a tendency to overdo things.

"Yes. This morning at 7." He answered her with his hands folded on his lap; he twisted himself in his chair before making eye contact with the girl. He could see her groaning and smacking her face with her hand in dread. "Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing, I'm just... You know a bit worried about the stability of his sanity." She said with a hyperventilating laugh. "But that's okay, I'll get over it." She continued, sitting down on the couch and fanning herself.

"You must be worried about his work schedule." Komui guessed sipping on his coffee. Mei raised her head and peered over at Komui with a surprised expression, Komui laughed and settled his cup down to glance at her with a playful smile. "You know how Kanda is, he just keeps going. I told him to take some time off, but he just doesn't listen."

"You're his boss, you have the power to make him bend to your will, Komui. Use it!" Mei insisted with an accusing finger pointed at the man behind the desk, "He's pushing himself up to a point where his body's going to fail. I can see that he's not well as it is, how can you keep sending him out there to fight?" Mei asked with an incredulous tone.

Komui shrugged, "That wasn't my decision, he wanted to- I couldn't stop him. He'd cut me up into sushi pieces before I can do anything. Unless you want to talk some sense into that boy, then be my guest." Komui said pouting at her, he threw his arms across his chest and turned the chair around so that she was facing the back of the chair.

Mei sighed, jeez, were all the men in the Order so childish? "That's not my job, I don't have the authority." She countered swiftly. The room was silent for a few seconds before Komui turned around again with a frown on his lips, one that made Mei laugh. "Will you talk to him then?" she asked with a hopeful grin. Komui just pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded.

Mei clapped her hands in glee, "That was all I wanted to say, so I'm going to take my leave now. I still have an examination today." Mei said dreadfully, "With Rouvelier and his little entourage of scientists. Poking and prodding me with sticks as if I were an animal." She grunted unhappily.

It didn't surprise Komui that she was also pretty upset about the examination that Rouvelier had unexpectedly assigned for Mei. He had from the beginning refused to let Rouvelier test his experiments on her like some lab animal; he just couldn't let her go through that kind of humiliation and torment. She was just a child that was forced to fight in his ridiculous war that sometimes made no sense to him. Even he would lose his path as to why they were all fighting so hard. It was so difficult watching them get injured so heavily, to die without really even seeing the world. It pains him as a supervisor, that's why he's resumed the responsibility of always carrying the burden of the pain that everyone feels at war. It was all he could do.

He had to be strong for the sake of Lenalee; all he wanted was to protect her. It devastated him when he found out that she was a conformer for Innocence. He had watched them drag her away from him from their homeland to some foreign place that she didn't recognize. Komui knew that Lenalee was going to be scared and confused, she would cry and try to run away because that was what he would do if he was only a child himself.

There were so many times that he wanted to cry, to just sit there and let the waterworks run. It's been so long since he cried without shame; the last time was when the level four had attacked the old headquarters. He watched his own sister kneeling there; ready to take her own life for the benefit of gaining power to save him. Lenalee looked so helpless, but yet so strong, she knew what she wanted and she was willing to give up everything for it.

Komui had thought he also knew what he wanted, but somewhere along the way he lost sight of what was really important, he forgot why he was there in the first place. It took a gentle reminder from Lavi and a heavy blow to the head from Kanda's boots to trigger the memory as to why he worked so hard to get where he was in the Order. It was because of Lenalee that he worked his ass off to get the position as supervisor; he wanted to be there for her, to protect her. He knew that she needed him; she needed her older brother because he was her only family left. So he threw everything away, because he loved her. Years passed and Komui realized that she wasn't the only one that needed him, these children needed him, the people dying for the cross needed him, everyone here needed him. So for them, he will go on bearing this title of 'Supervisor'.

As her superior, he had made a pact with Mei that he wouldn't keep anything from her. He promised. Komui stifled a long sigh with closed eyes behind clear glasses. "Mei, I promised you that I wouldn't hide anything from you anymore. We really need to talk, I want to be the one to tell you the results of that test ahead of time, so you'd be prepared." Komui explained with difficulty. He didn't know how to handle this topic of her Innocence appropriately; he felt if he just said it, it would be too much of a shock. Beating around the bush wasn't a great idea either.

Mei couldn't understand the underlying tone that had laced itself within Komui's voice, he seemed unsure of something. There was something that he was too afraid to tell her. Mei blinked at the man quizzically, "What are you talking about? I haven't even gone to my examination yet." She said anxiously with a shaking voice.

Her fingers were jittering from nervousness; she hated how she looked so scared at what was coming. In her heart, she knew what Komui was going to talk about; she had long since guessed what was happening to her. The weakness in her stability of walking, and how she always seems to pass out from little over exertions, her body was getting sick.

Mei closed her own eyes and tried to clear her mind of muddling thoughts, "If it's about my Innocence... I probably already know, Komui. It's not hard to figure. I can feel it you know, that energy seems to be slipping away from me on a daily basis." Mei said in a voice full of melancholy, she was really trying not to cry. "You think it's fatal?" She asked with a quirked grin, "It's so ironic, I give everything for the Order and the Innocence to protect the people. In return I have my life slipping away from me."

"It's not like that, Mei. What Riba and the others have found out is that your body is definitely weakening, but you're not dying or anything. Don't be so dramatic. Your Innocence is definitely different than Krory's and Allen's. Parasitic type Innocences does shorten the conformer's life span, but yours seems to consume your life faster than most, almost like a disease. Your Innocence is draining a lot of your energy, leaving you always exhausted. The reason it does that is because you release too much power at a time when you use it, as long as you watch how you use your Innocence, you should be able to recover." Komui corrected her. "But, if you ever try to go to max release... I wouldn't be able to say that you'll come out of it alive. Most likely, you'll use up all your life force and die right on the spot. Be extra careful, Mei." He warned her with a pointed finger at her. "Like, Kanda, you have a habit of overdoing yourself too. So don't be scolding other people when you have the same problem."

Both of Mei's cheeks were inflamed from being told off, it wasn't like she was doing it on purpose. She couldn't believe she was being compared to that oversized ego jerk. It was her nature to want and help her friends, but she always seem to end up as a burden at the end anyways. It was either being kidnapped by her adversary or being taken advantage of, she always needed saving. She fidgeted in her seat with a dejected sadness lingering on her face and Komui tilted his head at her with a wry smile.

"I'm just saying, because I'm worried about you. I don't want to see another comrade of mine die at such a young age. You're hardly any older than my own sister, so please, for once, listen to me. I know you kids don't like listening to me ramble on about ridiculous things, but it's for your own safety. That's why I do the things I do." Komui stated releasing his worried expression and leaned back into his leather chair that squeaked as he did so.

Mei hadn't noticed the aged lines that had creased itself into Komui's face, he may only be 27, but she could see that he had worried night and days over them. It wasn't like the lines just appeared suddenly overnight, Komui looked much older at this second than he did at his actual age. The man in the chair seemed ragged and exhausted, from lack of sleep and constant worrying about things like paperwork and how far the Millennium Earl has gotten with his plan. She was so into her own life to not be able to see that there were other people that were also in the same situation of difficulty as her. Whether it was the Head Nurse chastising her about letting her do her job or Komui explaining his reasons as a supervisor, they were all the same.

A benign smile crept along her full lips when she fisted her hands on her lap, "I'm sorry, Komui. For assuming things, you're right. If that's all I have to do, is reserve my power from being used too much, than okay. I'll do it, I promise not to use max release." She swore, if she could ease his heart just a little bit than she would so all that she could.

Komui slipped his glasses off his nose and placed them on the messy table, he looked so different without his glasses on. It surprised Mei at how handsome and younger he looked without them. Lenalee was lucky to have such a wonderful brother with her in the Order. "I don't want to keep you from the exams or else Rovelier is going to kick my ass further than next century, but I want to ask about the Ark that Alphonse discussed with you. Before he left he told me that it was you that came up with this theory of the Ark being the reformed version of the Babylonian Tower."

Mei scratched her hair in confusion, it was so long ago that she had suggested that idea to Alphonse, she didn't know he was actually going to put it into his report. "It was just a thought... It was in the book, I mean it could be probable. Look at the possibility; the tower represented everything that God didn't want in humans. Defiance, ego, greed, I can go on if you want." She suggested coolly.

Komui shook his head, "No, I understand. Everything that the Earl represents is within that building, it's just a matter of time before we fully understand." He replied solemnly.

Mei stood up and turned towards the door, "Yeah... And by that time, the Earl's tactics is only going to sow the seeds of war even more than before. This war, is only at it's beginning."

She opened the door and escaped his office when her peripheral vision caught someone standing just a bit outside the doorframes of Komui's office. She turned and saw Lenalee standing there with her hands clutching the coffee tray. Her face was ashen and pallid, her eyes were wide with shock, also wet and glimmering with seemingly threatening tears.

"Lenalee," Mei walked over to the girl and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong?" She asked in a whisper.

"Is it true?" The girl questioned the older girl standing before her, she looked up and Mei's heart seized itself from her expression. "Is what onii-san said inside true?"

Mei didn't know what to say, Lenalee must've overheard when she was exiting his office. This was the reason why she had told Komui and Bookman to keep it quiet to the others in the beginning. From the beginning of the beginning, Renee had wanted Hevalaska analyze her Innocence when she was old enough, since so many were confounded by such a strange powered Innocence. The prophecy and the verdict in the end wasn't something she wanted to hear. She was only 15 when the prophecy was made, when she had arrived, the matter with the classified information was kept quiet from everyone else. Mei kept the secret at the back of her mind; she didn't want to think about it. Sometimes, on a good day, it would slip her mind.

It wasn't in her interest to share it with her new co-workers so she didn't say anything. As she got to know them, the reasons just piled themselves higher as to why she should keep it from Lenalee and the others. It's devastating news to know such a secret, she didn't think she could handle it the stares and the pity.

Mei reached out and patted her head, "I'm sorry I didn't say anything, please don't get mad at Komui. I told him not to tell you guys if he ever found out. I didn't want you guys to be worried about me." She explained softly to the girl shivering with uncontrolled emotions. She sighed, "Lenalee, I'll be fine. But, you've got to promise me that you can't tell the others. Just pretend what you heard never happened. God knows what the others will react like. When it's time... I promise I'll tell you guys everything. Now, I've got to go. I'll see you around." Mei said with a smile, with one last pat on her shoulder she turned around and went down the corridor as if nothing was wrong.

Lenalee watched Mei disappear around the corner; she wobbled to the wall and slid down to the ground with the tray clattering to the floor next to her. She placed both her arms across her bent knees and burrowed her face inside. Confusion and sadness leaked itself out as she sat there in the silence of the Order.

----

"You're late." He growled at her from behind his tooth mustache, his hands tightly behind him in a poised position. He wore that stiff suit of his reminding Mei of a strict dictator. The only thing different is that Link wasn't standing behind him like some security guard. A dog after his master.

Mei had entered through the front science building when her eyes lay upon the majority of the building being littered with people that she's never met before. Where were Riba, Rob, and Johnny? Mei frowned deeply at the change of faculty; it was so like Rouvelier to get his own men. She peered over at Rouvelier's angry face; he seemed steamed that she was a few minutes late.

"I know, sorry. Had to have breakfast you know." She smiled through gritted teeth. She saw the table with straps laced at the side, she suddenly felt cold and reluctant. She turned towards the inspector, "Is this necessary?" She catechized pointing to the straps. It seemed a bit much for her taste. Rovelier walked up to her and leaned towards her with a frown so deep she swore it could've been permanent.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit." He said menacingly. A sudden prick to her arm had her wincing. She glanced down at her arm and saw the needle in his hand; she glared up at him, unable to say anything as her legs gave out. The edges of her vision started to blur, she saw them coming towards her, but she couldn't do anything. Her whole body felt out of her control as they lifted her to the tabletop. A flashing light blinded her eyes causing her to shut them, then without notice her whole consciousness gave out.

Komui slapped down the files on his table; Lenalee and Miranda stared at it for some time before glancing at each other. Lenalee picked up one of the two files and scanned the data that was given to her. She closed it and faced her brother with an understanding facial expression. Something about her brother's own reflection of distress had Lenalee knowing that there was something more to the files than what's given.

"People, no, cities are disappearing overnight in an instant and no one knows what's going on. I'm afraid nearby cities are in danger as well, I want you and Miranda to look into it, be careful of akumas in the reigning area, I have a feeling that the Earl is stepping up his attacks. Finders has informed me that Noahs been present in locations where cities are last seen." Komui informed with a hesitant sigh.

Miranda and Lenalee both took on shocked faces, "You mean, there are more cities that are disappearing in other regions, onii-san?" Komui nodded with despair, he ran a hand through his hair. "Are you sending out the others to check it out as well?"

Komui leaned in with a defeated look, "I can only send out so many exorcists at a time, Lenalee. You have to understand, Kanda and Marie are out for months on their current assignment, and Krory and Allen just got out of the hospital. I'm sorry I can't do more right now." He sighed in rejection, "Just do this for me, Lenalee?"

Miranda placed a gentle hand on her arm and gave her a warm smile, "Come on, Lenalee." She made a grab for the files and headed out, "I'm sure we can figure this out."

Lenalee turned towards her brother before following Miranda out, "Onii-san... Will this ever end? I don't want to lose anybody anymore." She muttered, "So please onii-san, find a way to find to save Mei." With that she ran out the door with the door slamming against the wall making the room shake a little. Komui just stared awe struck after the disappearance of his sister. He couldn't believe what she said, she knew.

Miranda stared at the girl walking next to her whose concentration was completely immersed in the file, Lenalee seemed a bit... Odd lately. The way she was talking to her brother to the way she stormed out after a few minutes. She wondered if the two got into a fight or something.

"Ano... Lenalee, are you alright?" Miranda asked out of concern for the young girl whom seemed to be fuming in her own little world. Miranda reached out when she suddenly felt the air around her get cold. She dropped her arm and shivered at her cold exterior when Lenalee closed the manila folder shut.

"I don't know, Miranda." She murmured, "Everything and everyone seems out of whack these days. Everyone's keeping something from everyone... Even when we're family, why is it that I feel that everyone's so distant from each other...?"


	50. Phone Call Dreams

A/N: Mindless gabber? Not much to say- Too full to think... x-x" Think I ate too much. Bleh. Please review~~!

Chapter 50: Phone Call Dreams

Komui wrinkled his brows at the tiny words on the paper; he took off his glasses and sighed. The words seemed to blur together with an indistinctive blob of darkness on the memo that Link had given to him this morning from Rouvelier. Papers were coming in left and right, reports of other cities that were disappearing over night. Komui didn't know how many more before it'll stop; he couldn't stop the death rates that were also skyrocketing through the roof. The dark box next to him sprang to life as Komui closed his eyes and picked up the phone.

"**It's gone.**" A stone cold voice entered his hearing range. Komui tilted his head at the terse statement and rubbed his temple slightly to try and alleviate the pain that was suddenly throbbing. That sound and that cruel and curt voice could only belong to one person, that person also sounded exhausted.

"What do you mean 'it's gone', Kanda." Komui petitioned the boy on the other end who grunted in response, "You're going to have to do better than that, I can't understand Kanda Yuu language." Komui said tiredly into the receiver. "Please." He added with a little emphasis.

"**The city, Komui, is gone.**" Kanda replied slowly enough for the words to process through the supervisor's brain. It suddenly occurred to him as to what Kanda was saying, though it wasn't a surprise. "**Damn it, are you even listening?**" He growled annoyingly at him.

Komui brushed back his dark locks and exhaled a breath of reprieve, "Yes, I am. Listen; be careful out there, Kanda... You and Marie. Something's seriously not right, yours wasn't the first one, large cities around the world are disappearing. Poof! Overnight too. Were you able to see anything?" Komui examined the situation.

"**It was gone before we got there, but I heard from villagers that it was there the night before.**" He answered back hastily. There was a short pause before a light pant could be heard over the phone.

"Kanda." Komui stated firmly, it was the stern voice that he used with Lenalee when she was younger, but only on rare occasions. He knew the stuff he was going to say next was going to most likely piss Kanda off more then anything else. The facial expression that kept popping into his mind kept him firm in his directionality of his orders.

"**What.**" Kanda asked frustrated at Komui, at the mission, at himself that he couldn't get there on time, at Life itself.

"The others are worried about your well-being, and so am I. Looking at your schedule, you haven't taken a break since... Well a long time ago. At this rate, you're going to fall short in missions, Yuu-kun." The man said with a laugh. "But, I'm really being serious here."

"**Don't they always? Just ignore them**." He said exasperated at their constant worrying. He was Kanda Yuu; he never falls short of anything he does. He was annoyed at the fact that he refused to take a vacation had them pulling their hair out like frustrated dolts.

"I can't, because they're right actually. I can't let you go on like this, Kanda... You're off the next mission." He instructed seriously with pursed lips. There was a really long silence this time and Komui was waiting for that angry voice to erupt through the cords.

"**What! Why?! You can't do this to me, Komui. I need the next mission, what the hell am I suppose to do? Loiter around the Order like everyone else?**" Came the boy's bitter inflection towards Komui, who in response, cringed slightly even if Kanda was a thousand miles away right now.

Komui placed back the receiver to his ear and let out a tired breath, "It's called resting Kanda, and you know what? As your friend, I would love to throw you the next ten missions, as much as you want, but as your boss and as an adult... I need to keep your health in mind first. You may not care about your life, but I do. So does everyone else back at home, don't be so reckless. This is an order." Koumi massaged the space between his nose, he felt like sleeping all of a sudden. He picked up his coffee mug only to realize that it was empty. He mentally groaned and placed the cup back.

"**Che. Whatever**." He muttered. Komui didn't want to argue with Kanda, he was exhausted and he was mentally drained. With Rovelier up his butt about everything that's going on in the Order, he just wasn't up for a verbal argument with the boy.

"Please, Kanda." Komui pleaded silently, "I can't do this with you now... I have Rouvelier's examination with Mei to worry about right now. Can't you just say yes?" He asked.

"**What?! You let that bastard be alone with Mei? Are you out of your mind?**" This time he sounded frantic, but he caught himself, "**Whatever, doesn't matter... Fine, if it's an order, I can't kill you for it. Happy?**" He stated blandly and Komui knew he was mad at him. Kanda was still furious at him for sending him on that mission with Mei that night to infiltrate Cyril Kamelot's anniversary party only to have humiliated himself by having to be saved from chasing fan girls.

"Very. Don't get yourself killed." He joked lightly and the glasses man could almost feel the irritation flow through from the other end before there was a click and the phone went dead. Komui could only smile, there it was. Kanda Yuu was finally showing emotions when he screamed at him about letting Rouvelier near Mei. He was worried about the girl and he was clearly showing it, something Komui didn't think was possible. All it took was a simple girl like _her_ to bring it out of him, how strange.

----

She groaned as she opened her eyes, she felt like she had just ran a marathon or something. Her arms were aching and her back hurts like hell, a throbbing pain parachuted itself through her arms and Mei winced grabbing hold of them in a hugging motion. Her whole body hurt and she wanted to cry, but thought better of it. Mei didn't want to be labeled a crybaby; bad enough Kanda now calls her a chibi. She wasn't even that small.

"Ah, your up." A warm voice welcomed her; Mei turned her head and saw Komui sitting in a chair in her room with a soft smile on his lips. Sunlight reflected itself against his dark hair and white uniform, making him almost angelic looking.

Mei sat up and pulled her blankets tighter to her chest when she stared at Komui with narrowed eyes, "You've been watching me?" She asked a bit creeped out, the older man laughed at her statement. Mei just gave him a glare before throwing the sheets off to get out of bed. She raised her arms to her line of vision and saw bruises against her wrists and needle wounds to her arms.

"They didn't have to go so far with the restraints... " She muttered heavily against the musky air in her room. She dropped her arm and ruffled her hair and stretched before grimacing again. "You think they would've let me walk if I said I already know the results of their experiments?" She asked rummaging through her drawer to find something suitable to wear.

Komui shook his head and took out the file that was under his arm, "No, they have other use for their tests on you. Mei, I'm sorry though, that they treated so roughly." Mei turned around to face Komui who seemed suddenly devoid of happiness. She gritted her teeth, he was apologizing to her too. What was wrong with everyone?

"It's okay, Komui. It's not like I haven't been through worse." She said airily with a wave of her hand. The dark haired girl brought out a white simple Asian dress and placed it on her bed. "It's not your fault, you should stop beating yourself up every time something happens. I choose to do the things that I do, I'll take responsibility for it." She sighed folding some loose sheets that were on the floor. "Sometimes, I don't know who's worse, you or Allen. There's something about Allen that makes me feel like he's always blaming himself for things that happens to other people, I mean, I understand if he's grieving, but to blame it all on him… It's a bit much. I feel like he has this strange power that he wants to save everyone."

"Is it bad to want to save everyone? What else can I do? I can't even protect my own sister." The Chinese man asked gently looking at the floor beneath him. Mei cocked her head at him, her lips lightly placed in a line on her pallid face. She kneeled in front of him and looked up at him, straight in the eyes, her hands over his. Komui, taken back by her gesture, sat speechless at her.

"What you're doing before is fine enough. You're doing the best you can already, I'm sure even Lenalee would agree with me." Mei said softly while patting his hand, "Just be there for us when we come home, with that goofy smile and warm welcome. It'll be enough." She smiled and stood up. "Now get out, I have to change." She demanded with a frown and hands on her hips.

Komui stood up from his sitting position and turned to face the door when he peered over his shoulder at her. He waved the file that was in his hand before speaking, "Come to my office when you're done, there's an assignment for you." He smiled at her; Mei nodded and kicked him out her room with a grin.

Mei glided down the corridors of the Order, her mind a bit groggy still from her sleep and examination from several hours ago. Finders and scientists were murmuring things as they whizzed past her, she was taking her time in walking to Komui's office. Not to mention in the back of her brain, there was that nagging voice reminding her of Kanda. She shook her head in frustration; she wasn't going to think about that insensitive jerk. Kanda Yuu, the idiot that blew her off like she was some kind of fly. Mei sighed, she placed a hand on her cheek, even if she thought ill of Kanda, and she was still worried about him.

She approached his door and knocked softly on it, she heard the ruffling of papers before his voice came through in a hurried state. Once the door was opened she was bombarded with massive amount of paperwork that Komui had not bothered to look at it. Once again, Komui was being the number slacker next to her favorite redhead. Mei managed to get to this desk with much difficulty as she trudged through the pile to get to her destination. She opened her mouth to say something about it when Komui raised a finger at her.

"I have to clean it, I know. Lenalee already gave me to spiel on it and I don't need another one from you." He said a bit forlornly with a dark look in his eyes. If he hated the lectures so much, why'd he create such a mess from the beginning? Mei rolled her eyes at him before extending her hand out for the file that he had shown her earlier. He handed it to her quietly when she arched a brow at him. "You're going alone, just to observe." He said with a bit of emphasis on the last few words.

He wants her to scout, not to fight or to do anything drastic, just to see what the situation was. She hasn't gone observing on a mission for a while now, she remembered she use to get those missions when she first started as an exorcist. She didn't even bother to open the file as he placed it next to her and glanced at Komui. "Scouting." She indicated with a bite to her lower lip. Her pride was a little hurt, and it was already bruised from Kanda's words from last night.

"I know, I know you can do better than this... But your safety comes first. In your condition right now, all I can do is let you scout." He said gently as to not hurt her feelings, but it was already too late for that. "You'll be going to the city of Xerxes this time."

"The city of what?" Mei asked a bit confused, she's never heard of this place, ever. She knew her geography of the world pretty well, and never in her 18 years of studying has she ever heard of a city named Xerxes. Was it some ancient town that hides itself in the mountains? Mei opened the file and took in the notes that were given to her; she pulled the file back and stared at Komui. "It says here that it's gone. It's in ruins, what am I suppose to check for?"

"Why and how. Cities are being obliterated over night and disappearing off the face of the map. We have to send out people to find out why and fast, people are beginning to run rampant with fear and you know how the Earl likes to prey on people like that. It was said that Xerxes never existed in the realm of this world; it just appeared one night when a bunch of miners were digging. They had been digging in the same location for a while and suddenly it was just there. From what I believe, Xerxes is one of the first that had mysteriously vanished from somewhere, we need to know why." Komui explained in terms to which Mei will understand.

Mei made a flustered face before throwing up her hands and nodding, "Okay, it looks like I head out tomorrow. I'll go get ready, who will I be partnering up with this time?" She asked closing the manila folder in her hands.

"You'll be going alone with a Finder this time, Mei." Komui stipulated with each word. Mei didn't say anything, a frown blossomed on her face and she scratched her neck in confusion. "You'll do fine, it'll be a short trip. I don't want you fighting if a Noah shows up, but if it's a low level akuma I'm sure you can take care of it. They normally don't show up in places they're already done preying off of, so you should be safe." Komui annotated with a crooked smile. "Now go get ready." He said ushering her off.

Mei closed the door behind her softly before running through the file once more, no matter how she looked at it, there was something strange about Xerxes that Komui wasn't telling her and she was afraid that that was the one thing that was going to get them in trouble.

----

"_Ne... Allen-kun_," A voice stated softly, he turned and looked at the girl in front of him. He couldn't see her face, but she seemed familiar. She was in a schoolgirl uniform, the one he often saw private school girls wear at grade schools in London.

"Yes?" He answered her swiftly with his arms in front of his face to block out the sudden sunlight that was flashing in his face. "You... Who are you?" He asked. His voice was too soft for his own liking, it sounded weak and unsure.

"_It's okay, you don't really need to know._" She said with a tilt of her head, she had this charming smile that he felt like he's seen before. "_But, I have a message for you, Allen Walker from Mana._" Her voice seemed further away with each syllable that slipped from her delicate lips, but she just kept on smiling. Allen saw her reach out towards him, the light shifted and his breath was lost. Everything seemed so normal was because he did know her. He felt his own arm try and reach out towards the girl. "M... Wait!" Allen called out, "Please!" She was fading, her lips were moving, but he couldn't understand what she was saying.

Allen woke up to a sheet of sweat when he realized that something or rather someone was staring at him from the top. He blinked his silvery eyes to adjust to the darkness when he let out a piercing scream. Both the boys were pushed back from the sudden noise as Allen gathered his blankets in his fists with gasps heaving from his chest.

"God, Link! Ever heard of personal space?!" He snapped at him, his heart was going at hundreds speed per minute and he didn't like being spooked. Link crawled from the floor to a sitting position, he scratched his head from the bump and glared at the cursed boy with white hair.

"Jesus! You were moaning and groaning, how can anyone sleep in a condition like that!" He yelled back at him with his fists out, Allen could already see the throbbing vein on his temple as his own temper snapped. A glint in his eyes flared to life as he activated left arm and stared down at the blond haired boy. "Don't you dare, Allen." He warned, but Allen didn't give a crap at that point.

"If you're so annoyed, go somewhere else and sleep. This is my room after all." He threatened darkly with an insane grin on his lips. The two stared daggers at each other when a knock came from the door. The two turned, Allen scrambled from his bed and opened the door to see a sleepy Mei standing outside with an annoyed expression on her face. Allen felt the sudden chill from her as he smiled apologetically at her. "Sorry." He didn't know she was the low blood pressure type.

"You okay? Screaming like a girl in the middle of the night... Almost woke up the whole damn neighborhood." She growled with a yawning face. Allen chuckled; she was so cute when she wasn't fully awake with that bed hair of hers and that loose style too. Allen patted her head and pushed her out the door giving Link a disapproving stare before closing the door. "Wha- I can get back to my own room, Allen." She mumbled.

"That wouldn't be nice, having a girl walk outside alone in the dark." He smiled at her. Mei scratched her head; Allen was always such a gentleman... Unlike someone she knew. "I'm sorry, it's just... It's straining to have Link breathing down my neck again. I can only imagine what he'll make me do when paperwork comes around." He cringed, Mei giggled slightly at his reaction.

The door to her room appeared down the hallway and they stopped momentarily before she went in. Mei turned towards Allen and gave him a reassuring smile one that somehow made him feel actually all right. It was then that he noticed something, that smile that she was giving off, it was the same one from the other girl in his dream. Allen didn't know that he was staring at her when he felt her call out his name. He snapped his head back up from his daze and shook his head.

"You okay, Allen? You seem a bit pale there, is it the wound?" Mei interjected swiftly with concern. Allen stepped back and waved his hand in a 'Yes' motion. "Are you sure? You should get back to bed." She advised, "Oh, and Allen." The boy stopped and looked up, "You'll be alright." Mei smiled and entered into her room with a soft click of the door telling Allen that she was safely back in her room.

Her words, her concern, it was very comforting to know that he has friends. It made the warm feeling spill over gently in waves of kindness that he's always getting from them. Allen touched his cursed eye lightly and smiled, it really did feel like it was going to be all right.

Allen opened his door to be greeted by a very awake Link whom was sitting rigidly on his bed, which resided on the floor next to Allen's bed. "Hey, about earlier... Sorry I yelled at you. I didn't mean to sound so awful, it was the adrenaline rush." Allen apologized sheepishly with a laugh.

Link just shook his head and sighed, he slipped back into bed and sat there staring up at the boy who just came in. Allen Walker, the cursed boy, the boy who lived when he met the Earl. The one prophesied to kill the Millennium Earl. Of all people why did it have to be someone like Allen Walker? The soft glow, the silvery eyes, the gentle smile he gives to everyone, the positive attitude, it didn't add up to see his life wither away in this war.

"Allen-dono is always so polite to people, sometimes I wonder where your strength comes from. You give off this brilliant light, but that light is so soft and it wavers sometimes. I'm always confused as to how you keep going." Link noted glancing towards the floor. Allen walked over to his bed and threw himself into his still warm blankets and nose sighed. He stared up at the ceiling and shrugged his shoulder.

"I fight and go on because there's important people that I want to protect, Link. It's not that hard to figure out. I get my strength from them, the people that greet me when I come home, and the people that believe in me the most. Even if I waver and I have doubts of my own, or when I'm feeling a bit wobbly... I still have my friends that'll always be there to help me up." Allen looked over to Link and smiled, "Isn't it the same for you? You have someone you'd willing to fight for?"

Link turned his head; yeah he definitely had someone that he wanted to protect too. With his life, he would give anything. Even if that man wasn't the best person in the world, he was the only one he was willing to die for. He was the one that had saved him and gave him salvation when he was alone in the world. Link closed his eyes and smirked, that kid really was something when it came to words.

Allen acknowledged the smile and grinned himself, so Link did have someone that he held near and dear. He also know what it was like, they were all the same even if there was a three and a half year difference between them. Allen turned off the lights in the room and closed his eyes, "So it seems that you're all better from turning back into a regular human." Allen observed the man next to him who was throwing his covers over his shoulder.

"Yes, what does this have to do with anything?" Link asked briefly with a muffled sigh in his sheets.

Allen was referring back to the assignment that was given to them when Riba, Johnny, and Rob were sent to a local town to investigate a thieving case about Phantom G. The mission had turned out disastrous when they fell into a trap set by one of the nuns at an orphanage. They were there to retrieve a boy named Timothy, it was rumored that he had a piece of the Innocence in him. In the middle of battle Tim had activated his Innocence by accident and changed the akumas into his Innocence weapon. There were casualties and those who were wounded like Link who was changed into a puppet when battle ensued.

"What's it like being a puppet?" The younger boy sniggered into the darkness and Link growled at him. He wrapped the blankets tighter around himself and glared into the wall in front of him.

"Shut up." Link muttered. Allen chuckled and sighed pulling the covers over his chin and letting the chirping cicadas outside his window fill his mind with tranquil dreams of the summer night.


	51. Desert Night

A/N: Hello there, I finally uploaded another chapter... I hate making decisions for college, everything is so difficult. x-x" Parents are making me apply to Pasadena art school whereas I want to go somewhere else... Eff my life. T.T Okay, read and review please!

Chapter 51: Desert Night

Mei placed the circular binoculars to her eyes and peered over the dusty bowl of the sandy desert they were traveling over. It's been almost three days since they first landed on this piece of territory where most living things don't exist, except for the few brave caravans out there doing business. The sweltering heat bit into her skin as she placed a foot on a mound of dirt to get a better look at the ruins that peeped over the horizon. She let out a dry sigh and took down the binoculars and handed them to the Finder behind her. The Asian girl sat back down in the shade and rummaged through her sack to look for her bottle of water when someone handed her one. She looked up at Toumas, her Finder, and smiled.

"Thanks, Toumas." She said taking the bottle from the man who settled next to her. She took off the cap and took a swing of the cool liquid that escaped the lids of the bottle and down her parching throat. She gasped out loudly in refreshment and grinned as she handed the bottle back to Toumas who laughed. "We're close to our destination, probably another day's worth of hiking." Mei concluded with a small clap of her hands.

"If I may say so, mistress Mei is very different from Master Kanda and Master Allen. Those two fight day in and day out, I wonder if they ever get along. I remembered going on a mission with them once and Master Kanda had left Allen in a ditch with the akuma. He said something about letting his emotions get the better of him and so he was leaving him there." Toumas sighed closing his eyes and leaning against the adobe like structure. He pulled his leg in a little, and tucked his head onto his knees like a kid.

Kanda. Mei had tried very hard not to think about him, even with her efforts, he evaded her dreams like a bad nightmare that won't go away. The very fact that she had let a friend out when he was so sick made her conscience pick at her till she couldn't stand it anymore. She should've been more forceful with Kanda and made him stay. He could be dead somewhere because of his sickness and it would be her fault. Shit! Why did she let that blockhead go on with his stubborn plans?!

Mei cradled her arms and huddled herself towards the wall, forcing all thoughts of the Japanese man away from her thoughts. No matter how worried she was of him. She wasn't going to let that idiot run rampant in her thoughts; she just refused that sort of idiocy. Mei sighed and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear that was covered in a thick cloth to protect her from the sun's rays and the constant rough winds that brought in brittle sands to the people's hair and faces. Everything seemed so complicated, and she hated complicated.

Toumas saw the look on the face of the young exorcist he was guiding and tilted his head at her. "Is something bothering you, miss?" He asked softly, "You can tell me if want, I'm all but a humble Finder and nothing else. I heard if you talk about your problems, it makes one feel better." Toumas suggested, "But you don't have to tell me, it's just a offer for protecting me for so long already." He smiled gratefully at her.

Mei scoffed slightly at his words that ended up in a smile, "Toumas, you don't have to call me 'mistress'. We're all equal where I come from. You Finders put your life at risk to find places infested with akumas everyday, you're all but welcome to share the kudos as us exorcists." Mei chuckled shaking her head. She stopped and looked out towards the anhydrous plain and exhaled through her nose. "A storm's coming, I guess we're going to have to set up camp here and head out tomorrow morning."

Toumas took that as a cue for him to start pulling things out and preparing them for the sandstorm that was predicted to come near nightfall. "Oh my, seems like a big one." He muttered into his bandaged face. He grabbed the makeshift tent equipments and started banging away to make their camp. Mei settled next to the Finder and started tying the ropes around the nails silently to herself. "Oh, you don't have to do that miss, Toumas can handle it." Toumas said with a tone that made Mei giggle a little.

"It's alright, papa use to take me go camping in the woods a lot back in the states. You see there were a lot of people heading towards the west when I was a younger, 'pioneer' as my papa called them. They were heading out to make a new life, and wilderness survival was one of the basic needs that had to be learned even if we weren't traveling to San Francisco. I wasn't interested in dresses and tea parties; I was more interested in what mama and papa were fighting against. I was pretty boyish back." Mei huffed lightly with a grin on her lips. She finished the knot and looked up at Toumas who was amazed at her small handiwork.

"Mistress Mei really is different then Master Kanda." Toumas said quietly going back to work. Mei kneeled where she was and together they settled in a nice silence that occupied the two beings as they gathered the nails and hammer to the next corner.

The wind started picking up and the dust was settling into their little hiding place when Mei stood up and wiped her forehead of the sweat that had produced itself from her hard labor. The sun was sinking down the mountains and she could feel the heat draining from the desert, it was going to be a chilly night with one hell of a storm raging out there. With the reinforced tents, they should be able to last through tonight and ride out the storm. She tiptoed over the edge of the wall and looked out from the damaged water building they were currently residing in and pursed her lips into a tight line. The once dark blue sky of the night was starting to turn a reddish color, the color of flying sand.

Mei dropped herself from the window and walked over to Toumas who was currently working on dinner. The stuff in the pan sizzled delicately in the oil as he flipped it over and placed them next to a few crispy slices of toast. The man glanced up at the girl and rubbed his uniformed covered head. "It's not much, I know, but it's the only dry that could've made it with us on the trip." He said dryly, going back to the cooking. Mei settled herself tightly between the two large backpacks and shuddered. "There's extra blankets in the packs if you're cold."

Mei laughed, "I'm the holder of the hottest fire around and I'm the one shuddering." She taunted herself lightly causing the man next to her to laugh. She dug out the extras and placed them over her shoulders as she watched the fire from underneath the pan flicker. In. Out. The walls around them began to dance in a hypnotic pattern as the shadows pranced itself against the pale building. Mei wrapped the blankets tighter around herself and closed her dark topaz eyes against the eerie pictures that were staring back at her from the walls. She didn't want to freak herself out.

"Toumas..." Mei started hesitantly. She wasn't one to sound all mushy and emotional, but she felt that this time around, she really needed help. Mei couldn't figure this out anymore than the next person, the whole situation with two guys, one she was physically and mentally attracted to and the other was just the full jolt of sexual desire that she couldn't suppress when she was around him. It was embarrassing to admit that she was seriously flawed in ways her parents had taught her better. She felt so ashamed.

"Yes?" The man finished up with the food and gave Mei one plate as he took off the pan and placed it aside to let it cool so he could wash it later. He sat down across from her letting the fire warm their cooling bodies. The girl seemed flustered, embarrassed as if. Her eyes kept darting itself towards the fire and the kept sighing as if it was too hard for her to explain. The girl ruffled her hair and groaned as she slapped herself lightly. "Is it that bad?" He asked with a worried smile on his gentle face.

Even if she couldn't see his full face, she knew that Toumas was a nice guy with a big heart. Anyone that had survived with Kanda and Allen was a lot stronger than they think. It takes a lot to handle the two, Toumas was either lucky or he knew what he was doing to keep himself alive. Mei cocked her head at him and thought about the things she wanted to say, how she wanted it to be placed into words without sounding ridiculous. "About what you said earlier... What I was stressing out about. I was wondering, is it wrong to possibly like two people at once?" She asked uneasily.

Toumas turned his body towards the oscillating fire that was ablaze bigger than before as Toumas threw in a few more sticks they had gathered earlier on. The flame turned a bright red and simmered down, he was silent for a minute. He poked at the bacon slices and ripped off a slice of the bread when he undid his bandages from his mouth area to eat. It was the first time Mei had seen the lower part of his face. What she saw made her understand why he shielded to the outside world. Where his lips were located was massive tissue scarring around his lower face, even if he didn't unwrap everything, that little glimpse was enough. "Toumas..." She whispered under her breath.

"What does mistress Mei think about the situation?" Toumas asked turning back to Mei who leaned away in surprise. She blinked at him and pointed a finger at herself; her eyes lowered themselves back down to her plate and bit her lips in thought. The oriental girl seemed bothered by something, something she wasn't willing to say out loud, fearing she would humiliate herself even further. Mei touched the edge of the plate and closed her eyes to the sound of the howling wind that was picking up outside.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you the question that's been bothering me. Though..." She drifted off as Lavi's smiling face came drifting into her mind, "I really want to believe that it's alright to like them both, I mean who says that this feeling that both the people I care about evoke inside of me is restricted but to one person? This warm sensation that both of them are able to produce from within themselves, I love it." Mei drew closer to the fire so that the light washed itself against her skin in an orange glow. "Kanda may be heartless sometimes, but he's a real gentle guy that cares... There's so many stories from people when he's being an ass, but there's also a lot of moments where he lets himself slip to show people his true intentions."

Mei shuffled her feet from under the blanket and burrowed herself deeper into the warmth that was starting to crawl around her like a bubble. The words and images that were appearing in her head from the last time she saw Kanda made her feel a bit guilty. What she said sounded rather awful, she hadn't mean to say it so rudely. She was worried, but she didn't want to pry into his private affairs. She didn't want him to say that he didn't need anyone, even someone like Kanda needed friends.

A smile absentmindedly drew onto her lips, "Lavi can be an idiot too sometimes, but there's something about his smile that lights up a person's day. But... I always feel like there's something fake about it and it scares me that he won't talk to me about it. He makes me frustrated and he pisses me off in random situations, but in the end I can't stay mad at him for too long. He's annoying and he's childish, but there's something lovable about it. This state that I'm in is so confusing, I just want someone to tell me what I should be doing." She mumbled slightly offhand.

Toumas returned looking at the fire in front of him, "So it was true, mistress Mei is in love with both Master Kanda and Master Lavi. It's not unusual." Toumas stated as-a-matter-of-fact and the girl next to him flushed deeply at such term usage from him. "You know what my mother use to say when I was a child to my other siblings?" Mei shifted her sitting and focused her attention on Toumas.

Toumas picked up a stick and prodded the fire a bit before continuing, "She said she loved us all, each one equally. There was always a space in her heart for each one of us and she wasn't going to leave anyone out. Love isn't something that can be compared like a cup of flour; more so, it's something that's infinite that comes from each person. You can always make room for more, you can definitely share it too."

Mei buried her head into her hands, "Please don't use that term so loosely, I really think I still have miles to go before I truly understand what love means." She mumbled shyly into her arms. She peeked over her head and frowned, "I'm sorry I'm spilling everything to you and making you listen to me. I know men don't usually like listening to us girls." She gave him a wry grin and Toumas just shrugged his shoulder and laughed with the shake of his head.

"No worries miss. For all you've done for me since the beginning of this mission, the least I can do for you is to listen to what's bothering you." Toumas replied with the flap of his hand. "Adults always underestimate kids and their perception of what love is, but what I really think is that... When kids are younger, they tend to understand what loving someone unconditionally actually means. That of society hasn't tainted them yet, so it's easier for them. You know what I mean? Don't doubt yourself so much." Toumas said softly poking at the crackling fire again with a stick. This time he took her now empty plate and placed them on the side so that he could wash them later.

Toumas stood up and began to walk towards the other end to wash the dishes when he peered over his shoulder, "Miss should get some sleep so you won't tire out tomorrow. Let me get the dishes then I'll get the sleeping ware out." Mei shook her head at him and followed suit after him.

"Oh, don't stress yourself so much, Toumas. How about we spilt the duties, you take the dishes and I'll take the sleeping stuff?" She suggested with a bright smile. Toumas could only furrow his forehead and shake his head at the difference of kindness in these young exorcists. Allen Walker, the self-sacrificing child, Lavi Bookman, the icebreaker, Lenalee Lee, the girl with a big heart, Yuu Kanda, the cold but caring child, and Mei Chang, the generous one. Toumas sighed; sometimes he wished the kids would be able to live a normal life somehow, hopefully in the near future. It was so sad watching them waste away such a precious life fighting everyday. It just wasn't fair.

Mei shuffled towards the large tent and began to lift the other blankets and sleeping stuff out of the bags and settled them on the cots that were prepared earlier. She flapped them up and down as the running water from the well slowly mixed itself in with the howling wind and crackling fire. Mei started to hum a tune to herself as the beds started to come to. The sound of the water began to slow itself down until it was nothing but tiny dripping sounds that echoed off the adobe brick walls. The flaps of the tent opened up and steps came in as she turned around and smiled.

"Okay, it's all done. Hopefully I did it right so neither of us falls to the ground in the middle of the night." She said pointing to the separate cots on each end of the tent, one on the far right and one on the left. "It's late... We're going to have to start really early if we want to reach the Xerxes Ruins in daylight. So let's hit the hay for tonight." She suggested turning towards Toumas who was already slipping into the cot on the left. Mei sighed and shrugged her shoulders as she dropped the extra blankets on her cot and crawled in between the sheets. Before she let her mind fall into dreamland she closed her eyes and gripped the blankets tighter.

"Toumas...?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for listening."

"..." Toumas was silent, then, "No problem."

----

Lavi lay sprawled on a couch in Komui's office as he read the daily newspaper that was in his gloved hand. He had one arm over his forehead and the other lifting the paper above him. The Order was strangely quiet, there were no bustling voices from his grandfather and Marie, and there was no grunting from Kanda. They were all out on missions, except him. Even his grandfather has been requested for an assignment. For some reason he was picked to stay back as his gramps went ahead without him. Lavi felt left out all of a sudden.

The sound of scribbling notes were the only noise that accompanied him and his reading, soft writing sounds that was coming from the supervisor that was signing away at his desk. Lavi would've stayed in his room, but he's been there since Lenalee and the others departed for their missions. He needed another companion to keep him feeling alive, there was no one in particular to make fun of and he wasn't feeling up to his old-self. The one that laughed a lot, instead he felt tired and exhausted. There was certainly something bothering him, but he couldn't find what it was that was picking at him, day and night, not allowing him to get a good night's rest.

Lavi let his hand fall over the side of the couch and closed his eye to the light that was bearing down on him. His head felt inflated and a humming noise kept itself whirring in the back of his mind. He couldn't think straight for the last few days and he felt rather down, he just didn't know where the nuisance was coming from. Lavi scrunched his face together; he placed both hands over his face and sighed.

Koumi looked up from his pile of papers and glanced over at the distraught teenager that had taken over his couch and frowned. He went back to signing the papers in front of him, "Something wrong, Lavi?" He asked nonchalantly with the sound of the pen still on the paper. There was only a shuffle of body parts and a small grunt that answered Komui when the older man looked up again to peer at the younger boy that seemed to be in some kind of mental dilemma. Lavi seemed paler than usual and the colors in his face seemed drained, must be one of those teenage drama moments again. "It'll be better if you talked about it."

Lavi didn't move, his abruptly dry lips moved lightly to the words that fell out. "It's nothing." He mumbled. Komui shuffled the paper around his desk and clicked his tongue at him. "Seriously, Komui, it's nothing." He restated with the flip of his messy red hair. "My head hurts a bit, and it's getting hot..." He whined, "How can you stay so calm in that heavy jacket of yours?" Lavi asked turning his head at Komui. It was falling into the summer season as they headed into May; flowers outside the Order were already in full bloom as summer approached.

Komui fell to his desk, "Are you kidding me, Lavi? I'm dying in this uniform that Rouvelier's making me wear." The man complained with the flap of his hand. "You're lucky, Lavi." He frowned, "I feel like I'm boiling in here." Rouvelier has been down at the Order for the last week, since he didn't have the exorcists to bother, he was now pinning all his attention on Komui. For once, Komui wished he were out in the front lines instead.

Lavi laughed a little, "Sorry. My mind's been wandering lately..." Lavi said turning away again. Komui folded his arms under his chin and tilted his head at the boy. Lavi took a small breath, the newspaper fallen next to him on the floor with the rest of the papers that were littered around them also and the heat buzzing in the room like a bug that wouldn't go away. There was a short pause before either of them said anything.

"I'm scared, Komui..." Lavi started with a force breath, "This person I'm turning into... I don't who it is and I don't like it. I'm not supposed to do the things I'm doing." He divulged slowly. "I'm hurting both gramps and my friends. I'm a Bookman, this isn't what's suppose to happen."

"Then what's _**suppose**_ to happen, Lavi?" The Asian man asked quizzically, Lavi turned his head over towards the older man and sagged his lips into a frown. "You seem conflicted by your duties as an exorcist and a Bookman." He told him, "Or is it more like, your duties to yourself and your duties as a Bookman?" He queried at the redhead. "The possibility of expressing your true feelings when you're bound by the laws of your clan, it's hard, isn't it?"

Lavi staggered in shock at Komui's words, he was surprised that the man sitting before him knew what was going on inside his head. Without warning he felt his face heat up from being found out. He covered his face with the back of his hand and turned away at Komui's misty laughter. "It's... That's not it." He lied swiftly.

Komui's crescendo laughter erupted around them in notes of hysterics, "Lavi... You've always been a crappy liar, even if you are a Bookman. That's what's different about you. You want to do things, but you're just too scared to. You're not like Bookman who had years of experience of teaching himself not to feel anything... To be apathetic." Komui closed his eyes and folded his hands on his lap. "But this is the point that I really like about Lavi, is that you're different from your grandfather. You want to know what's happiness, to be sad, to be hurt, even if it's painful, you want to experience it all." He reasoned, "I'm not suppose to say this as your supervisor, but this is what I think in this situation, an opinion." Komui mused with a small smile.

"Che… You sound just like Lenalee sometimes." Lavi muttered under his breath with an embarrassed and annoyed facial expression on his long boyish face. He let his eye fall shut momentarily, letting the buzzing heat of the room take him away for a couple of seconds. "I'm a failure, Komui." He finally stated solemnly. There was a soft thud of papers as Komui straightened the files in his hands. He had a placate look when he placed the files in his drawer.

"You're not a failure, Lavi. You're just different, you should know that." Komui hinted cryptically as if he knew something Lavi didn't. Lavi stared at the man strangely, but Komui didn't look up from his cleaning duties. Of course, that day when he was fighting with Rodo… After such a long battle he started to realize something rather odd that was formulating itself in him.

He couldn't distinguish whether his smiling face was for real or was it fake. Before he entered the Order, he was pretty sure of himself and everything that he did was for the benefit of the clan. He would lie through his teeth and smile that irritating smile to deceive people of what was really going on. Even the first few months at the Order he was all right with the things he did. When did he start getting so attached to these people here? Did he wish for a family that he never had? Or was it because he was looking for something else to hold tightly onto, to believe? Somewhere along the path, they became his family. All the things he did weren't just for the sake of the Bookman legacy, but the happiness and smiles of those people here at the Black Order.

He wanted to make people laugh for real this time around; he couldn't bear to see them hurt. When they cried out in pain, it was like someone punched him in the stomach. The dull ache that would appear every time Lenalee or Miranda cried made him feel worthless that he couldn't do better. He hadn't noticed that from the first time he saw Lenalee crying near one of the coffins that day, his heart had started to melt from it's eternal slumber of ice that sat in his chest. When he first met Mei, which was the day it cracked, and the world he knew shattered with it.

He always wondered why he couldn't keep up with his name, being a Bookman. His grandfather did his job pretty well, so why was it so hard for the 49th alias that he took on? His past self began to question the present one and demanded to know why he was changing, the thing was… He didn't know, asking his past self why he was changing was like asking himself. It was weird how he started hating doing this job. He just wanted to be free. When did he start despising being a Bookman? There were just so many questions that were left unanswered. He felt like he didn't know anything anymore.

Lavi opened his eyes suddenly when he felt wet trickles drip from the corner of his left eye. He took the back of his hand and wiped it away, what the? When did he start crying…? But the tears wouldn't stop themselves from falling as Lavi covered his eye with a fist. Why? Why was being the 49th the hardest? Why did this title of being Bookman exist? Why did humans fail to bring an end to war? Why? Why? Why? There was only darkness and silence that answered because…. He just didn't know.


	52. Pieces of the Puzzle

A/N: Hello there! Well, here's the latest chapter of 'Field of Innocence'! It's exciting to see the new chapters coming out for the manga series… That means I have to incorporate Timothy into the story every now and then! Hooray for newly added characters! He can be friends with Pierre~ Remember Pierre? They're about the same age.  Mmkay, enough with the gabbering, let's get on with the story! Please review after reading! For I adore people who review! ;)

Chapter 52: Pieces of the Puzzle

It really was in desperate ruins. Everything was either destroyed or half standing. The people looked even worse, there were naked children sitting on empty steps that led to desecrated areas where cottages used to be and animals were running amuck everywhere. Old men and ladies were wobbling helplessly on the streets with wailing babies from different places. In the middle was an enormous empty piece of land. Lenalee assumed this was where the city use to stand. All there was left was emptiness, its surrounding small villages that were connected to the larger city were collateral damage. Lenalee felt a small pull at her chest.

"Miranda." Lenalee whispered out at first before gripping her cloak closer to her body and tried again. "Miranda. We need to see what happened here. You think you can use 'Time Record' and go back to when the city was still here?" She asked the older woman. Miranda turned a nervous head at her and nodded. Lenalee's golem flew silently above her, she wanted so badly to call for some sort of backup, but she knew they were short on staff right now.

"I suggest we do it at night. We don't want to scare the elders and the children, for now I think it's better if we tended to the sick and wounded." Miranda suggested half-heartedly. She looked around; this place was in need of help. Who would want to hurt innocent people on this kind of level? It made her sick to the stomach. "Um… Shouldn't we have met up with the Finder already?" She asked sheepishly.

Just then a rustle of leaves near them had them turning their heads when a young man stepped out with a bucket of water in his hands. He had his sleeves rolled up and the rim of his Finder jacket was wet as if he had just waddled into a river of some sort. It took him a second to recognize who they were when bright smile lit his scruffy face. "Oh! I didn't think you two would get here so fast! Sorry about the lateness, the people needed fresh water." He said gesturing to the bucket and towels that were draped over his shoulder and arms.

Lenalee went forward and placed a helping hand on the rim of the bucket and looked up at him with a small smile. "Can I get that for you?" She offered, "Seems like you got your hands full as it is." She pointed out. The man laughed, his laughter was that warm sort, and one where you know it's a genuine laugh and not something that you're forcing out of yourself.

"No, no. That wouldn't be polite, having a lady I just met hold the heaviest item. You can help me with the towels though." He chuckled putting the bucket of water down and pulling the white towels off his shoulder and handing them over to Lenalee and Miranda. "I'm William, by the way. You can just call me Will." He said in a brief introduction as they headed out.

"Lenalee Lee, from the London precinct." She noted with a nod, "And my partner here is Miranda Lott. We were sent to investigate the missing city." She hinted slightly. Will turned his brunette head towards the girls and sighed with a remorseful expression. The light in his eyes from earlier dimmed, making his gray eyes a darker shade in the sun. He fiddled his finger that was wrapped around the wire holding and bit his lip.

"All we got out of the villagers around was that before it disappeared a young lady with blond hair and dark glasses came through. She was exceptionally beautiful, reminded them of a cat they said. She had a bell tied to her neck and finely done nails, pale skin and wore top-notch clothing. They thought she was one of the rich family members passing through so they didn't give her a second thought. Sound familiar?" Will asked the two whom now looked rather excited.

"Just one. It sounds like a Noah that Lavi and Krory encountered from before on a previous assignment. The description fits her rather perfectly actually." Lenalee said turning to Miranda for confirmation. "I think she went by the name of Lulu Belle. I never met her personally, but I heard she's the Noah of Form. She can change to different people or animals, even objects. What happened during the disappearance of the city? It can't be possible that no one saw what happened."

Will shook his head, "It was the middle of the night when it happened, and everyone was either asleep or too drunk to remember. All they recall was that it was like something exploded and the next thing they knew a force came hurdling at them, destroying everything that stood in its way. Only a few survived, majority of the young and elders were lucky enough to make it through with critical injuries. When we arrived, the city was already gone. You think they're looking for Innocence?"

Miranda furrowed her brows, "I don't think so, and their offense tactics are different this time. They aren't targeting specific people and it seems like there's not much akumas around. Something's off about this whole thing, what is the Earl planning? Nothing adds up, Lenalee. Why just target a whole city and leave right after?"

"Because cities are filled with people, killing them would mean armies for the Earl. Plus, the mourning would make perfect victims. The only thing that I don't understand is why haven't they attacked you guys yet." Lenalee mumbled glancing at William. "They would've wiped out the Finders first, and why make the cities disappear? They could've just left it. Oh! Everything's so confusing, it's making my head hurt." Lenalee sighed.

Will stopped in front of a shabby looking house and grinned, it seemed like it was the only thing that survived in the village as he knocked. A second later a young girl with braids appeared through the crack, when she saw Will she burst out in a large grin and opened up. "Hey there kiddo! See, I told you I would be back. Now get this inside so the others can clean the wounds up." He instructed lightly with a pat to her small head. The girl nodded and took the heavy bucket from his hand and went running back inside.

"Seems like you have your ways with children." Miranda smiled with a soft look on her face. William flushed at her words and waved at her with a sarcastic face.

"Nah, I use to have siblings and such, and since ma was always out working, I took care of them." He explained with a gentle grin. He placed his hands on his hips and looked in with saddened eyes. "Lola doesn't talk though. Ever since the incident, she lost her ma and pops in the accident. Now she's alone and she doesn't know what to do. It took me a while to get her to trust me."

Lenalee lowered her head, what it must feel like to lost everything at such a young age. She knew the sorrow and the biting pain that always came with it at night when you remember the good days, when everything was normal. Lenalee had to put the sad thoughts away as they all stepped into the dim house. It smelled of rust and iron: blood, and rotting flesh or whatever that was causing that putrid odor to waft into their noses. Will peered over his shoulder and gave them a wry grin.

"You'll get use to the smell. This place is where we tend to the wounded. There's just too many and we only have so much material to work with." Will exclaimed softly. He bent down near an elderly man with bandages wrapped around his face, only his lips and eyes were visible and it was those that scared Lenalee. Even though she knew he was alive, those eyes were dead. It reminded her too much of General Yeegar. She shuddered and turned around, facing her were dozens, if not by the hundreds, of wounded kids and adults. Some were sitting on chairs; others were leaning against the walls. It was a very sad and depressing image.

Will whispered something and patted the old man's hand before getting up and going to the next one. Will had such patience and will to go to each and every one of them and console their pain. Lenalee and Miranda began to do the same; they rewrapped wounds and disinfected cuts. They mouthed out sweet words to those that were beginning to lose faith. It made Lenalee uncomfortable somehow, probably because it was strange for her to tell these people to believe when she, herself, had lost faith so long ago.

Nightfall came in a hastening pace when Lenalee felt someone touch her shoulder. She looked up and saw Miranda staring back at her; she seemed so ghostly under the moonlight that came waltzing in the broken windows. Maybe it was the dark linings under her eyes from the lack of sleep or her pallid skin that made her so deathly beautiful, but there was just something really gorgeous about Miranda in the dark.

Lenalee wiped her brow with her arm and stood up. The two women stepped out and saw William standing there with his pack ready. "I told William earlier on, he's going to guide us to the center. That way I can get a better reading to activate 'Time Record'." She gave William a curt nod, and so their trek began to find truth among the ruins.

----

He jabbed at the rubble and frowned, footsteps behind him tell him that Marie was still scouting out the area. The results were probably the same. The remains of the city were gone, completely obliterated. Though Marie didn't believe that a whole city would just disappear into thin air without leaving a trace behind, and so here they are standing in the middle of a desolate, once upon time bustling city, trying to find a miniscule trace of the destroyed town.

Kanda's patience was wearing thin already, especially after that phone call to Komui had him wanting to kill something. That blockhead better be prepared to die when they got back to headquarters. Marie's footsteps ceased when only the sounds of crickets and rustling trees occupied their ears. Silence reined in the night air when Marie's footsteps changed direction. "In coming, Yuu. From the upper right, he's coming in from above." He warned. No later than a minute into Marie's words, a bee like akuma appeared swooping down with its wings beating against the cool night air.

A sudden shine of blue and a swift leap into the darkness, a shrill scream echoed into the emptiness. Kanda landed smoothly a foot away from where he stood previously and turned his head back. "I think he just called for more friends, Marie." He smirked holding up Mugen in the white light shining down. "Care to spar with me a little, Marie?" He asked. Marie scoffed as he jumped down from where he stood and landed next to Kanda.

"There's at least thirty more where they came from. Aren't you glad we didn't leave, Yuu?" Marie teased the Japanese man next to him who just frowned. "If there's akumas here, there's definitely something here that's worth protecting." He said getting into stance. With two of his fingers missing, it was a small hindrance to Marie now a days to work his Innocence.

"Shut up." Kanda growled pulling Mugen out in position as screams of laughter erupted all around. "Don't piss me off, Marie." He took a swing at another level two when Marie's booming chuckle could be heard next to him.

"Such a sour puss." Marie mused to him self as he let his strings out in a fury of attacks as it wired itself around his victims before he clapped his hands together and chanted the noel's song. There was a gong of holy music and the akumas burst into dust.

"All right, fine, Kanda. Just wished master were here to see your face." Marie laughed earning him a blow that almost knocked him sideways if Marie hadn't dodged.

"Sorry, sorry!" Marie chuckled landing on the ground again when he heard a crack come from beneath. He furrowed his brows and brought his face closer to the cold dirt crusted ground, another small cracking sound. It was definitely coming from underground. The noise began to form into a louder one when Marie suddenly felt the floor under his foot give out. "Shit! Kanda!" He yelled at the Asian man who looked down, surprised to see his partner tumbling in to the darkness.

Kanda didn't think twice as he leaped from one piece of broken ground to another until he reached over towards Marie. Marie launched his invisible strings into the air and made a grab for Kanda's outreached hand. A blast of dust covered the entirety of the floor beneath them when the two coughed and struggled to stay within each other's grasp. The dust dissolved into a light covering as Kanda and Marie recovered from their fall.

The two were dangling in midair with only Marie's strings holding onto their weight. Kanda had grabbed a hold of Marie's booted foot and was on the lower half of the two when he glared up at Marie. Marie shrugged his shoulder and gave him a wry frown. A ripple of water caught Marie's attention; it was a sound so small that Kanda didn't have a chance of catching on. It was due to Marie's special Innocence that allowed him to hear things that is almost nonexistent to human ears.

"Kanda. I think we just found the lost city of Luxemburg." He said gruffly as the two turned, and there, shimmering in the luminescent light of the moon, stood the once proud city of Luxemburg.

----

They trudged through mud filled villages and trails that were infested with brushes that got caught in their cloaks when they went past them. It didn't take long before they were at the heart of the city. The two women standing next to William could tell that this city use to be bustling with people and business and in one night, everything was destroyed. The vastness of the area made Lenalee shiver with anticipation, something about this place gave her an ill feeling. There was a part of her that didn't want to know what happened to this city and there was another side that was excited. Thrilled almost.

Lenalee turned her head towards Miranda who gave her a warm reassuring smile to not be afraid. The wind whistled against the dark shrubs that were left behind as it tugged itself into their hair. William gripped his large telephone attached pack and steadied himself for the works of an exorcist's Innocence. This was his first time in witnessing an exorcist at work and he was somewhat ecstatic about it. Miranda raised her right arm where a large zipper like path stretched itself down her arm in a glove like manner and on top sat a disk like object on her shoulder. She took a deep breath when she activated it.

'_Innocence Invocation! Time Record!'_ The disk came down her arm and began to glow and hum in a golden light as orbs began to formulate around them. A dome like light surrounded them and then the images began to appear. The rubbles started to ascend back to where they once were and buildings began to appear from nowhere. People started walking in and out, there were laughter of children and adults, clacking horseshoes against the hard ground, and voices yelling for the daily news. It was as if they were standing in the middle of replay session to the days before the accident happened.

William saw a young girl run towards a shop when he started going after her, he recognized her. It was Lola. He felt a hand grasp at his shoulder; Will turned and saw Lenalee give him a somber smile. "Will, none of this is real… They're just images… Memories. Miranda takes back the damages done and it allows her to see the perfect state of the object being recovered." A rock seemed to have fallen over him, what a cruel sight this was. Lola was so happy then, why did those damn Noahs have to take everything away from innocent people? "I'm sorry." Was all Lenalee could bring herself to say before turning back to Miranda.

Miranda stopped the replay and began to let the scenes go on in their normal time, they watched as the sun began to set and salesmen began to close shop. It was just an ordinary day. A waned moon began to appear in the sky as the city fell silent to slumber and hungry barking dogs when a dark figure appeared in the shadows. Lenalee squinted her eyes when the figure stepped into the moonlight, just as she thought, it was Lulu Belle. William's eyes went wide when he saw her and began to walk forward towards her, he touched a hand at her abdomen only to have his arm run through her.

"I told you they're not real, William." Lenalee said with a sigh. It must be hard for Will to have to watch the remains of what became of this city. They watched as she approached the center of the city and looked up at the sky when both Miranda and Lenalee took an intake of breath. A grinning madman hung in the air by the hook of a small umbrella was smiling down at Lulu Belle when she leaped into the air and in seconds turned into a black cat and landed on the shoulder of the Millennium Earl.

What came next had them all in disbelief. There were screams and shouts as the city shook with rage, there was a sudden loud bang and a cloud of dust and pressure pulsated from the heart of the city. Lenalee and the others raised their arms in reflex when the Earl's laughter and voice rang into the air. Lenalee lowered her arm and turned her head towards the sky to only see the moon staring back at her. It was Miranda's voice that reeled her back into reality.

"Lenalee!" Miranda shouted above all the noise and Lenalee looked up, she pointed towards the sky with her gloved hand. She wanted to see the city from the aerial view.

"Take us up!" She replied, trying to scream above the others' shouts. Miranda nodded and rotated her record on her wrist when all three of them were lifted from the chaos and into the sky to watch from above. She heard Miranda gasp at the sight of what the city was turning into and William's eyes were wide with fear.

"Is that..." Miranda pointed to the city that was engulfed in flames of red and orange, Lenalee nodded her head. What they saw encircling the town was a pentacle shaped rune cutting the city off from the other smaller and useless villages. "The cursed mark..." The dark haired woman breathed out in disbelief. Time was slipping from the minds of these people as they were running, but they were heading nowhere it seemed. There was a blast from Miranda's right that had them looking down and they saw a large baby like figure with mantis feet crash through the city.

"The city of Loyola never stood a chance." Lenalee said softly watching the horrendous view below her. Soft glows of the ember dashed itself across her face making her look years older than she really was. "In one night they were swallowed up by the Earl's power." Slowly, the screams died down as the last victim of the ambush died at the feet of the akuma that had lead a massacre through the town. The fire continued to roar and the akumas laughed its hideous laugh into the night air.

With the Earl and Lulu Belle on his shoulder below them, they witnessed their first nightmare of a literal one-night genocide of Loyola. The Earl with it's maddening grin snapped his chubby little white gloved hands and with a crash the city disappeared into it's grave beneath them, leaving a large white gap of land as evidence of what once was. Miranda's Innocence flickered a bit before switching off, the three landed safely on the ground as the sound of the wind picked up again.

"It was here all along." Lenalee whispered touching the ground beneath her feet, the gravel scraped themselves across the pad of her fingers almost like trying to tell her the pain the people of the city went through. The ruined lives, the captured souls, they had to set them free from the Earl's grasp.

"Like they say, if you can't go up, go down." William muttered kicking the floor with a booted foot. Lenalee stood erect from her kneeling position and looked over at Will with determined lilac eyes.

"Will, we're going down."

----

Two figures approached the steep end of one side as greenery began to take over the sand dunes that have been in their sight for the last few hours of their life. Which could only mean that there was an oasis nearby if trees were starting to grow in the sand's place. One body turned itself to the other and motioned him to follow behind her. They were almost at their destination.

Mei pulled off her cloak and gazed her eyes upon the rocks that protruded itself out of the ground. Large ceiling like pieces that were covered in moss and entangled vines, evidence that it's been around for some time now, littered her view. Her lips quivered with excitement, they were here, they were finally here! She turned towards the other man and jumped for joy. The man took off his face covering and slumped himself down against a smaller rock.

"This is it, Toumas. It's the Ruins of Xerxes!" Mei pointed forward at the cracked stones and pebbles before them. "Seems like someone just came and raided this place and left it for the dead." She murmured turning around to examine it once again. Her slim fingers tapped her chin in a rhythmic matter. "I'm going down to check it out." She smiled jumping a few steps down. Toumas leaned forward and peered over at her with a worried stare.

"Be careful, exorcist-sama!" He called out after her and Mei just gave him a wave before disappearing behind a stone column of leaves.

This place was simply gorgeous as Mei hopped down several more steps before taking everything in around her. Even at its height of destroyed condition, there was something very melancholic and beautiful about Xerxes. Sunlight penetrated through the holes of the trees and danced their way across the fallen city in a dizzying pattern. Mei took in a deep breath and raised her arms at her sides. She closed her eyes and opened her ears to the sounds around her. Wind, the sigh of the trees, the soft running water nearby; everything felt connected as one.

Her feet began to take her somewhere, she didn't know where, but it seemed urgent almost as she began to move feverishly through the grove of the trees. Her feet suddenly stopped when her eyes flew open, her heart pounding against her chest, and her breath escaping in intervals. The ancient ruins before her almost took her breath away. In the sunlit canopy of different trees and bushes, large granite like piece of wall stood erect and tall casting looming shadows onto the moss-covered ground.

It wasn't its sheer size that caught her off guard, but what was written on it that made her so paralyzed with awe. Intricate lines wove itself into the solid rock formed into a larger picture. There was a piece missing from the right side, but overall it was in rather good condition. There was a star like shape etched into the wall, with a lot of points, 14 to be exact, and there were creatures surrounding 5 of the corners that made itself into a pentacle. It was the sign of the cursed one. In the middle was a child in a kneeling position with its arms thrown wide open with a large tower behind it. Mei couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, but something about the scripture on the wall made her feel strange.

There was the moon on one side and she guessed the sun was supposed to be the other missing end. She involuntarily reached up and touched the cravings when she felt a slight jolt run through her system. A cold, dark, and lonely feeling evaded her heart in a mass of shadows and Mei shivered. Even if it was in the middle of the desert, the rock was cold as ice and it reeked of an odd aura. This presence was something she couldn't place her finger on.

It sent chills down her spine as Mei let her hand drop to her side and took a step back. There was something off about this place, something that wasn't normal. Mei shook her head, trying to get the numbness out of her body. She felt as if her warmth had been extinguished by a darker force. She grabbed her arms around herself and gritted her teeth, what was this sudden feeling of death washing over her?

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A voice spoke up from the trees. Mei's head shot upward towards the sky and growled. It was _that_ sound, that lustrous, insidious sounding voice. It ricocheted off the ruin pieces and bounced around her like a bullet. She knew damn well that the voice belonged to that guy. The iffy and nauseous feeling she gets every time he's near, she was positive it was _**him**_.

Mei frowned with her hands still over her stomach, "Tyki."


	53. Catastrophe

A/N: As the chapter title says: Catastrophe is about strike! Lets see what happens now that Tyki has found his precious plaything once again and what about the lady in red? Will he be able to recognize her? Dun, dun, dun! :OOOO. Oh, there are few elements from FMA that I added, but I tweaked it a bit, I just needed something that already existed to use as a solid base fact statue... If you get what I mean... O.O" All those tibits belong to Hiromu-sama though~! Okay, enough jabbering! Read and review people! Loves to all who do!

Chapter 53: Catastrophe!

Tyki stood on a wiry branch just above where the girl was standing, examining the stone before her. Her eyes were wide with expectation and shock; it was such a pleasure watching her move. Her movements were fluid yet awkward as she stumbled across the grassy grounds. It seemed as though she had seen something she wasn't supposed to. He didn't think that the Order would be on place this fast. He underestimated them. It wasn't a problem; it just made everything that much more amusing and fun.

The Ruins of Xerxes—or what it used to be, a city—was special. What made it special was that it was encrypted with something the Earl wanted. The Ruins of Xerxes held the prophecy of the world. The formula of world annihilation was locked inside this desecrated civilization; it was the piece of stone that Mei had her eyes on that very second. It had taken a lot of sweat and power to haul this piece of broken city to the Desert of the Dead in the middle of the Middle East. The people who guarded the secret fought hard, but he hadn't broken a sweat when Tyki killed them all. They were such feeble creatures.

Tyki lowered his cigarette with a smile on his lips, his eyes watching her like a vulture. She shivered and it excited him. Everything about her made him want to slowly destroy her from the inside out. If he had the pleasure of watching her bleed out, that would bring the utmost satisfaction to his suppressed desires. Tyki placed his hands over his face; he couldn't help but let the dark side slip for a second before gaining back his nonchalant posture again.

If only they knew, if only they'd understand the truth of it all... What Allen really was, what Allen could do if he didn't resist the change. He had heard of the rumors about Allen Walker from other akumas and skulls, of how the boy with the white hair had changed for a brief second. They had gossiped of how he had flickered into _**that **_state, his other form, when he was stabbed with his own Innocence, the Crown Clown. They had seen it, the shocking truth, the one thing that no one thought would be possible—the fact that both a Noah and an Innocence conformer resided in one body.

Allen Walker was a walking hypocrisy. He was the boy that would fight for the akumas and the humans. That was where his arm came from. He had said that the left was for the demons and the right was for the humans. That was his pact when he asked for power; it was as if it had happened just yesterday when he watched the child spontaneously grow stronger when fighting him. Yet, an exorcist with half a soul of a Noah…was that even possible? What worried the Earl was that either the change was exactly like the former 14th or that it was just another Noah. He didn't know and that was what bothered him. In the end, Allen Walker was the key to the lock that would unleash the apocalypse onto the world.

Allen was going to kill off everything he had ever loved and cherished. Tyki got antsy just thinking about it. The excitement was hard to control knowing sudden death was coming to the world. Even if the boy didn't want to change, there wasn't anything that he could do to stop it. Except there was another prophecy made, one that was hidden away in a body of a child that could foretell the future. It was rumored that Allen was also the 'Destroyer of Time'. It seemed Allen's future could go either way—to either let his dark side reign or to fight against it and even possibly kill the Millennium Earl himself.

Tyki let the smoke slip through his lips, his eyes automatically narrowing to the very thought of them being killed off by the exorcists. What a ludicrous thought! He kept his eye on the girl until she started wincing. Ah! It seemed the pressure of the area was finally hitting her! Normally, the prophecy had its own barrier protecting itself from foreigners, but since the guardians were all killed off, the protective seal was destroyed. The uncontrolled power was released into its surrounding area and normal people wouldn't be able to get close to it. Well, it wasn't like that girl was normal. It didn't surprise him that she got this close to it.

It was time he showed himself. Tyki spoke up and he saw her shoulders jerk up suddenly at his voice. Oh, she was so cute and her reaction made him laugh. He heard her mumble his name; at least she wasn't spitting his name out in hatred. That surprised him, for a girl who had witnessed her parent's best friend's worst sin, she was quite forgiving. There was a part of her that he didn't really understand.

"My, my. What a lovely day to meet under such circumstances," Tyki smiled, walking into the air slowly as the girl raised her head to meet his gaze that bore into her own. Her once plain face twisted itself into disgust as she sneered at him with a frown. "Aw, don't give me that face. You look so much cuter with a smile," he teased, lowering himself so that they were at eye level.

"Go to hell, Tyki," she spat out venomously at him and he pretended to curdle at her before reaching up to brush a finger against her cheek. Mei didn't have enough strength in her to fight back. She felt weak in her knees as she stumbled. Tyki made a grab for her arm and pulled her in so that his face was against her cheek.

"F... Fuck off, you stupid sex deviant!" She cried when she felt his lips brush against her neck. Panic was welling up inside her as she forced him off her.

Tyki pulled back, horrified and stupefied at what she had just called him. "Sex deviant?! I'm nothing of the sort!" he retorted furiously at her with a pointed finger. Mei's face was inflamed with embarrassment as she stepped away from him. "I'm quite the dignified gentleman. I'm just giving you what your body wants," he said smoothly as if she should have known that point.

Mei whirled around, her face flushed into a deeper crimson at his words. "I would never have such perverted thoughts like you, you creep!" she shouted at him. Tyki leaned back with his hands in his pockets. He grinned mischievously at her, a smile that Mei did not like one bit; it made her feel uneasy.

"Prude." he countered swiftly with a grin that revealed all his teeth like a cat bearing its fangs.

"Pervert." she snapped at him, the jab to his ego was greater this time than before. "At least I don't go around fooling around with every other girl I see."

Tyki disappeared and reappeared behind her when his arms caught her waist and neck. "Don't move or else I'll kill you with just a twist of my wrist." he warned. Mei breathed in a shaky breath at his words. Consternation gripped at her mind as she wriggled in his grasp. "Now, now, you wouldn't want me to tell your little eye-patch boyfriend about our little midnight rendezvous." he whispered.

"Just admit it, you can't stay committed at all, can you?" Tyki stated with a victorious expression plastered on his face as he snorted at her obliviousness. Mei shut her eyes and her mind to what he was saying. He was blackmailing her with that stupid decision she made back when she was in Germany. It wasn't like she had never thought about it. It was just that she never got the time to tell Lavi about it.

"Shut up, you shit-for-brains asshole," she mumbled cowering against him. She didn't want to be there, a place where she felt was sucking the energy out of her. She wanted to fight back; this wasn't her, why was she acting so helpless? Komui had warned her not to fight, but what else was she suppose to do?

"Oh, hohoho. Didn't your mother ever teach you not to call people such vulgar names?" Tyki seethed out with a grin; there was already a throbbing vein on his temple. He didn't know why, but every time she uttered something bad about him, it pissed him off more than it should. Maybe he was pissed that he'd lost that round. Mei turned her head a little over her shoulder with dark gleaming eyes.

"Sorry, after you mercilessly murdered her, I didn't exactly have anyone to tell me what I can and can't say," she said darkly, turning her body around with fire erupting all around her. "You lustful moron." The two stood face to face, each with their own determination flaring against each other. "Like I said. Go. To. Hell." She enunciated each word carefully before Tyki felt a rather hot burst of flame hit his lower torso.

He was sent flying across the ruins when he hit a large tree; a loud crash could be heard echoing through out the oasis where the ruins were placed. Tyki sighed getting up from the rubble. He dusted himself off and ran a hand through his hair. The girl was floating in the air with flamboyantly colored fire wrapping itself around her like a protective shield. "What is it Tyki? Were you all words and no action when you said the next time we meet, you were going to use that hand of yours to slowly kill me?" she taunted him. Tyki could only smile; this girl had nerve to fight him one on one. She was also quite feisty, just the way he liked it.

Tyki grinned up at her, his eyes darkening as he brushed his hair back and his arms started to glow black. Two large butterflies erupted from his hands, and then shot into the air straight towards her face. Mei raised both her arms and lunged it forward in a wad of flames. The two collided and the smoke exploded in midair as Tyki lunged forth towards Mei. There was a crashing silence where blade met fire; Mei glared into Tyki's golden eyes as he smiled at her with a smug smirk.

There was a rustle of leaves beneath them when Toumas emerged through with a panic stricken face. Mei's eyes went wide when her eyes caught Tyki's. "Miss Mei! Miss Mei!" Toumas called out for her, "I'm calling for backup, do not worry please!" he shouted, putting the phone pack down. Fear was welling up inside her stomach as dread began to descend. God, of all times! She knew what Tyki was doing. That was why the feeling of dread was so thick in her system.

In seconds, Tyki vanished from her sight when her head whipped towards the defenseless Finder. In another blink, Tyki seemed to appear out of nowhere. Her breath stopped when she saw the edges of his blade catch the sun's light. No, she wasn't going to let that happen again, she wasn't going to let him kill in front of her without her doing anything to stop him.

"Toumas!"

----

As Lavi sat there mulling over his thoughts, the phone next to Komui rang. Lavi's eyes opened up and Komui raised a brow. It rang for another second before Komui picked it up. "Hello? Komui here." He stated into the receiver. There was a pause when the Asian man's eyes looked up at the redhead that was sitting sloppily on his couch with concern written all over his face. "Put it through." He turned his chair around and Lavi quirked his eyebrows at him.

Komui couldn't hear anything on the other line. Was this some kind of joke that Riba and the rest of the science department were playing on him? Then, from the very back, he heard the crackle of the line coming through. The voices were faint at first, but it started to come in clearer with each passing second and by the sound of it, whatever team it was, they were in dire danger.

"**This is Toumas! A Finder for Miss Mei Chang, we're on mission 282839, scouting out the Ruins of Xerxes! A Noah has been spotted... We need backup now! W... We...**" The voices were breaking up as a shrill explosion sounded at the other end and Komui pushed the phone away from his ear. Fear and worry was evident on his face when Lavi got up and raced over to the where Komui sat. He took the phone out of the man's hand and Komui tried to grab it back.

"Lavi!" Komui didn't want Lavi to know that it was she at battlefield, alongside a Noah. He had warned her to step away if she ever saw a Noah approach; she was still too weak to fight. The heavy responsibilities of being a supervisor were once again loaded onto his shoulders. The boy didn't hand back the phone when his face went another shade paler. "Lavi... Listen... She'll be all right."

Lavi suddenly dropped the phone and the receiver clattered to the ground. The boy staggered towards Komui's desk and held on as if he couldn't breathe. He seemed drained and too shocked to speak. Komui latched onto his arm and steadied him with concern written all over his face. "Lavi, sit," he directed as he lead him back to the couch. Komui picked up the dropped phone and placed it back to his ear with the other hand busily carrying the heavier part of the phone.

"She screamed his name... She's in trouble, Komui. What the hell am I still doing here sitting and doing nothing?" he asked in a frightened voice and Komui gritted his teeth together.

"Get it together, Lavi. This isn't the time to panic; she'll be all right. I've already sent out help," he stated as smoothly as he could. He placed the receiver back towards his ear and attempted to hear the situation through, but all he heard were rumbling noises, and then silence. Something wasn't right. "Toumas? Toumas? Mei? Answer if you can hear me," he instructed them. By now, Lavi was gripping his hair in a frustrated manner and Komui was pacing the room.

"**Miss Mei! Why'd you do that! You're bleeding! Oh dear god!**" Toumas' voice came through again, except his tone was hysterical. A layer of cold sweat broke out over Komui's forehead when he heard the news. He shut his eyes and tried to think of something. There was no one that was free right now that could help them. He just prayed that _**he**_ was there soon; he'd be able to help. Komui placed the phone back down and sat at the edges of the table. Come on... He knew Mei could hold out a bit longer. Please...

----

_Drip. Drip. Drip._ A trail of dark red laced itself along the edges of his blade and fell to the ground in a sickening rhythmic sound. Pain shot through her lower sides as she gripped her hand against Tyki's blade that was sticking out from her body. She didn't know what happened; all she remembered was telling herself to protect Toumas.

"Miss Mei! Why'd you do that! You're bleeding! Oh dear god!" he was sputtering out words as he glanced at her wound. His face changed from white to a sickening green from all the blood that was splattered on his face as he tried to pull out bandages. "You shouldn't have, Toumas isn't worth that much... I'm just a mere Finder... You shouldn't have hurt yourself like that," he stammered helplessly. Even though he was a man several years older than her, tears were dripping from his eyes. He has never been this scared before in his life.

Mei smiled down at him; blood was seeping out of her mouth and drizzling down her lips as she limped forward. "Because... Toumas is still important, every life, no matter how insignificant means something to someone... I couldn't just let him kill you. Please don't worry about me..." She stood up and made a grab for the weapon and pulled it out, throwing it to the ground where it dissolved into a heap of purple gas.

"Are you stupid, protecting such a weak human being?" Tyki asked causally with a wave of his hand at her and Mei winced in pain. The wound was a lot deeper than she had anticipated as blood dripped from her ripped torso. She heaved herself around to face Tyki as he stood there indifferently, whistling silently to himself. A burning anger infiltrated her system. She wanted to hurt him so bad, to make him understand what it was like to be on the other end of the sword.

"Like you would understand," she spat out heavily with a staggered breath. She leaned against a large tree and gasped. Searing pain seeped into her vision as the edges started to blur. No, she couldn't give up now. She had to keep fighting to protect Toumas or else neither of them would get out of this alive. Mei pushed herself off her support and dashed into the shadows of the tree, hoping to lose herself among the trees for a while to catch her breath. Toumas scurried away into the other side of the dense, forest-like oasis as Tyki laughed at their attempt to escape.

"It's futile to even think that you're going to live. I'm going to kill you here and now, just like I promised," he threatened darkly with a smirk on his lips. Mei cringed when another shot of agonizing pain racked her body and she bit down on her tongue to force herself to stay quiet. Damn, at this rate, she was going to lose so much blood that she would pass out. Mei uncovered her hand that was over her wound and winced slightly at the contact of broken flesh. Blood was seeping quite fast out of it as she was losing consciousness. Mei tore off the sleeve of her uniform and wrapped it around herself and tied it securely as she doubled up the bandage with the other sleeve.

"Olly olly oxen free!" Tyki taunted loudly, his voice echoed off the spaces between the trees, making it hard to hear exactly where he stood. It was difficult to improvise under these straining conditions; she just hoped that Toumas was able to get away safely as Tyki's attention was on her now. "Come on, doll face, play with me."

Mei shuddered at his words. God, she hated how he always did that. He always made her feel strangeness on the inside. Mei turned her head and peered over her shoulders and saw him walking into the lush greenery with an insane smile plastered on his face. She had never really seen this side of him before. He had a large stigmata on the base of his neck. She gasped a little and in a fraction of a second hid herself back behind the tree where she sat as his head turned upwards where she was just a second ago. She prayed that she hadn't been found out just yet.

There was a rustle of leaves, then silence. Mei couldn't hear his footsteps anymore. "Shit!" She cursed under her breath as she leaped into the air and onto another tree as the one she sat on toppled over. Their eyes met, gold to topaz as he floated there in midair watching her like some kind of prey and she, glaring at him with all the hatred in the world burning in her eyes. His arm held a large blade like weapon as butterflies swarmed around him making him, flickering in and out of her sight. He raised one hand and snapped. The butterflies paused and abruptly turned their attention on her.

Mei threw both her hands out as flames licked themselves against the dark butterflies. The two forces clashed again as sparks flew from Tyki's blade. They pushed off each other and went at it again until they were just blurs in the sky. Toumas, hidden within one of the bushes stared at the sky where the two fought and huddled even tighter. He had to do something; he was so close to getting through to the supervisor; if only he had another second. Another second... Toumas glanced over his shoulders where the phone lay within the remnants of the broken rubble and an idea sparked in mind.

"Not bad, for a girl's who's bleeding half to death," he purred into her ears as they pinned each off with their attacks and Mei kicked him in the stomach, sending him several inches away. Mei took the chance and blasted him with a torrent of flaming rocks from her hand. Several landed on his exposed arm and started to burn. Surprise laced itself into his expression as he looked up at her. Pain was clearly evident on his face as he cringed grasping his arm in the other. "What the hell... Why won't my powers work?" he asked with an angered voice. He swore he had activated his Noah ability, so then why weren't the rocks fazing through?

Mei was quiet confused at what he was talking about, but then wasn't the time to dwell on such things. He was open and she wasn't about to let that chance escape her. Mei released a bit more power as whips appeared in her hands, except they were now covered in a dark mass; the tips were scythe-like as she gripped them against her hand. She twirled and in a swirl of movements she lashed them out at the defenseless Tyki.

The tree rocked against the force, but it swayed back into place. Mei was just centimeters away from Tyki's face as she stared at him. Her whips, swallowed in her fire, were tightly wound around his neck as they started to burn, and he winced. He wasn't able to faze through. What the hell was going on? He couldn't believe that he was now the victim of an exorcist, a girl exorcist at that. One hand was up and it rose at her neck with the blade tip against her skin as the other arm was gripped tightly on the whips that were around his. He didn't care that he was burning; the pain was nothing to him.

"You're not bad either... for a Noah that is," she mocked slightly with a sneer. There was something different about her that Tyki had never felt before. This Mei was not the girl he met almost a year ago. There was something dark and sinister about this one, as if this one didn't care if she killed or not. The girl standing before him reminded him of the one that Rodo had brought out when Mei had been kidnapped.

"You want to know don't you?" he gasped out through the restraints that were continuing to burn him slowly. He knew that even if she was a different person at the moment, the thing he said would still going to pique her interest. "You want to know about the stone don't you? About the Ruins of Xerxes..." he tried at her. Mei didn't respond at first but then narrowed her eyes at him before opening her mouth.

"I'm listening, but if you do anything, I swear I won't hesitate to pull this whip around your neck. I don't fear killing you; I bet I can lash this out faster than you can soot those Teases at me. Choose your decisions wisely, Tyki," she warned, loosening her weapon just slightly enough for him to breath. "Get on with it," she urged.

He smirked "What makes you think I can trust you?" he asked darkly. Mei only responded with the tightening of her whip. It seemed like the pain wasn't even stopping her for a moment. He watched with intense amusement as the blood began to seep through the temporary bandages and leaked down her legs.

She leaned in close. "I'm an exorcist, not like you lowly Noahs… We keep to our words, now spit it out. I don't have all day," she sighed waving a placate hand at him. "Please don't mold us in the same class as you guys."

Tyki raised his brows at her. "You really want to know that badly? Hmmm. Interesting." He smiled at her. "They really didn't tell you then. I'm surprised." Mei furrowed her brows in suspicion. "Hmm? That supervisor of yours didn't tell you about Allen? You guys are all keeping secrets from each other aren't you?" he continued haughtily at her. She seemed shaken and surprised at what he said. It was actually working.

"That's irrelevant, Tyki. I don't really care what they're hiding from me," she retorted angrily. But she was wrong. She did care. So Komui and the others were hiding things from her? Well, it wasn't like she wasn't herself, so she couldn't blame them. Mei lowered her head; everyone had secrets of their own, secrets that they'd shut out in the bottom of their hearts. Then again, why did it pain her to know that her friends were keeping things away from her?

"Lies, that expression on your face... I can tell that you're bothered by it," Tyki said, taking a small step forward and Mei flinched. Her fire dwindled a little, but they were still potent enough that Tyki didn't want to screw up his plan. "What are you keeping from them?" he asked smoothly, brushing a finger across his lower lip. He took another step towards her and Mei fell back another as he approached her.

"No... Nothing!" she stammered, falling back more and more; she hadn't notice that she had reached the end of the thick branch they were standing on. Tyki narrowed his eyes with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Of course..." he breathed out when he reached out towards the mind-scattered Mei and shoved her off. Mei felt his cool breath fan itself against her face; it was the last thing she felt before she started to plummet down towards the ground—the ground that was several hundred feet below them.

Pain surged itself from her torso to the rest of her body; she heard several cracking noises then more agony. The collision with the ground knocked the wind out of her for several minutes before she could breathe right again. She felt hot liquid seeping from beneath her and she knew it was blood. Mei felt tears leaking from her eyes as she laid there motionless, cold, and scared. God... She was going to die here.

"Since you look so adorable right now... I'm going to let you on a little secret." She heard a man's voice whisper into her left ear. "Allen's not who you think he is. He will destroy the world you know and there's nothing stopping him from bringing destruction to this petty little world you call your home. That's just the Noah in him, it's what we do. The stone you saw amongst the ruins... That's the world's prophecy, the boy in the middle... That's Allen. The Tower and the newborn 14th will rise and fight until there's nothing left. Do you now understand why there's 14 points on the star? It represents the Noah Clan... The one that will bring an end to humanity." His voice was weaving in and out of her ears, but the words were crystal clear in her fumbled mind. The truth of what was really going on in the science department and the ark and Allen.

"Allen's changing, forgetting, slipping, and one day he'll be somebody else that you hardly even recognize. Your enemy. Will you be able to kill him then?" He chuckled darkly next to her, "Oh... Mana's brother should've left the poor kid alone. Yes, Mana... The 14th's younger brother, you should ask Allen about him." _Mana_. The man that she had met so many years ago? No, that's impossible. She felt someone's cold hand caress her face, but her vision was so blurred with tears and blood that she couldn't really see him anymore.

"So beautiful, just like your mother," he purred softly, "I'll enjoy killing you, that's a promise, doll face. If only you had paid more attention then you could've saved yourself." There was a jolt as he reached into her chest; there was that feeling again, as if she couldn't breathe. Her mind slipped with the last of her little thoughts as he clawed his fingers around her heart. Dark rims began to take over eyesight as she felt coldness wash over her. So, this was how death felt like and she didn't like it. Fear and isolation crept at her—all the things that she'd ever hidden in herself exploded in her mind. The doors that she'd kept shut for so many years were starting to reopen and her life began to flash before her in frames of images.

She was happy, with a mom and a dad. She had everything she had ever wanted in life. She had a family, parents that loved her unconditionally and happiness, but a Noah and the Earl took it all away from her. Then, she met Allen and the others and a new family blossomed into her life. Once again, she felt the joy and happiness she once felt as though her mom and dad were coming back. She had even found someone that loved her as much as her parents did, someone she didn't expect to fall for.

Her world went white in a puff of smoke and numbness reigned. She couldn't think and everything felt odd, out of place. She couldn't focus her thoughts as to where she was. Something hazy started to walk forward in her line of vision. Who was it? She didn't know, but the presence of that shadow felt homely and familiar. The haziness drifted away and the man stepped forward with a smile on his face. Flashes of his grin flickered into her consciousness, stolen moments where they held each others hand, small kisses here and hidden winks there, she wanted them back. She wanted to live so much to see him one last time again.

_'Lavi.'_

He saw her blood decorated lips move for a second as something inaudible escaped her lips when he felt her heart beat for the last time. Her head fell sideways with tears still falling as Tyki stood up and clapped his hand together. His job was almost done, now all that was left was to let the Teases finish her off then he would be able to destroy her Innocence that laid within the cells of her body.

Tyki stretched his arms out and opened his hand as dark butterfly-like creatures flew into the air. "Go, my Teases, feed on her all you want and give me the Innocence that lies within her body," he ordered. In a swift motion of total darkness, the Teases charged themselves at the new carcass on the ground and prepared themselves for a meal when silent shots rang out from the trees. The Teases went down one by one as the rain of invisible attacks continued until all the Teases were nailed. Tyki looked over his shoulder with a frown on his lips. Another one already?

"Hmph! Sending old men in, are they? I'm insulted, but come if you want. I'm going to kill you too! Two Innocences are better than one," he smirked, motioning the newly arrived exorcist to come forward.

_'Tyki! Earl-tama wants you back this instance!_' Rodo's shrill voice came through as Tyki advanced towards the old man standing on the tree with acupuncture needles between each finger. _'Tch! Again? This is the second time already, Rodo!'_ Tyki said exasperated at those convenient interruptions. _'Earl-tama's __**direct**__ orders to fall back, Tyki.' _Rodo's voice came back harsher this time, with a bit of irritation laced in her voice. Tyki sighed and retreated from his spot.

"You got lucky, old man, but I can't say much to the young lass. As much as she was beautiful... It was an itch I just had to scratch!" he laughed, stepping into the shadows and disappearing within seconds.

The man standing within the trees watched as Tyki vanished into this air before landing softly on the ground. He walked over to the bloody mess on the ground and scrunched his face in pain as he looked up at his golem. "Tell them Bookman's reporting in... It seems like we've just lost another one."


	54. His Cries

A/N: Mmm. Yes. It's super late... Once again, sorry about that. I suppose I was having a hard time writing ideas down and there's a lot of things going on at the moment that's got me, well, yeah... Busy. So, here's chapter 54~ ! Please read and review!

Chapter 54: His Cries

Floating. Swaying. Numbness. Darkness. Everything was cold; a sweep of fear and relative lack of physical warmth washed over her. She couldn't move her body nor could she open her mouth to say anything. She was paralyzed and floating in complete darkness. Alone. She wanted to call out to someone, anyone, just wanted to see someone else besides this void that had captured her soul.

The girl shut her eyes, trying to remember what had happened last before she was here. Frames of pictures began to resurface to her memory--a face appeared before her, a grinning madman with his hands ripping her apart. She wanted to shudder, but she couldn't. She felt like her mind was running at a speed of at least a thousand mile per hour. It was Tyki. She was fighting Tyki before she ended up here. Did that mean she lost and that he had killed her? No. She didn't want to die just yet, there were still so many unanswered questions that needed answers to. She wasn't going to give up just yet!

She closed her topaz eyes, but it wasn't like there was much difference; there was still complete darkness when she closed them. She concentrated hard on what she wanted. She needed to activate her Innocence. She just prayed that it was going to work.

From the depths of the darkness, a bright and flamboyant flare ignited in the middle as it burst into a flaming phoenix so large that it seemed to expand from one endless void to the other. The girl blinked confusingly in front of it, unable to mobilize her body. Immense light flooded the shadows that evaded her that she had to shut her eyes for a moment to get a hold of the sudden light that was taxing her vision.

'_You... You are the one that has once again called on me, mistress Mei...'_ The voice boomed so loudly against her ears, she wished she had earplugs. She couldn't even cringe if she wanted to. '_Why is it... Why is it that you're so willing to live, young one?_' it asked her. '_I've already saved you once before, and yet you are so careless as to give your life away.' _This time it was different. The last time she asked for help, she remembered it was granted quite easily. Now there was a foreign feeling to this new and obscure feeling of her Innocence, something dark and powerful lurked among the power of the phoenix.

Mei tried her voice but it wouldn't relinquish any other sounds except for gasping noises that escaped her throat. The phoenix watched as the girl struggled before it let out a ear piercing scream and the binds that bound around Mei were released and her voice came to her in a breath of air. Mei was turned upright to face the large flaming powerful Innocence as if it were Judgement Day. Mei raised her head and opened her mouth. Nothing came out. **Why** was it that she was so focused on living anyways?

Mei lowered her head in shock of herself; she didn't know what to say to it. At the moment she was left speechless, couldn't think of a legit reason why she always wanted to live so much even though she was never careful with her own life. Somewhere in the past she lost her purpose--she did have one once, but now she wasn't so sure. She clenched her fists together and gnashed her teeth together, she was suddenly fed up with this confusion.

Tears were working their way down her face and she scrubbed them away with the back of her hands. Her wet lashes brushed against her cheeks and her face was red with all the abrupt rubbing of skin against skin. Mei wasn't afraid of dying. If she died, _**they**_ were waiting for her with open arms. She would be able to see her family again, her mama's beautiful smile and her papa's serene face, if only it were that easy to let go. Yet, there was something nagging at the back of her brain that wouldn't let up; something wasn't allowing her to just easily chose the option of letting go. Something, _someone_.

'_Do you then, have no reason to live on? A just reason for me to hear out... If you don't, I will let you die here and now,_' the voice continued. Mei shook her head hard against the dark folds of the shadows that penetrated through her mind. No, yes... She did have something precious and worthy to live for, then why is that she couldn't remember it? Her memories were aloof to her and it was like grabbing for air, almost impossible.

A sliver of a small whisper whistled past her when Mei opened her eyes. Something caught her attention that second. She turned her head around and looked towards her right hoping to find something that would trigger her thoughts of that 'precious' something. Words glided their self into her ears as she focused on the small dim light behind the large bird. There was something there, something big. Mei screwed her eyes together to get a better look, pressuring all her thoughts and concentration to make a grab for it. That feeling of being wanted and loved seemed to exude itself from that light as it got brighter and bigger at her finger tips. She was almost there.

The light exploded into a shower of golden lights as Mei entered a different realm, one that danced with shimmers of stars and warmth. It was no longer cold and frightening anymore; it felt safe and very secure. What made her heart swell was the people that greeted her right there and now. There standing before her was Komui and the rest of the Order waving and beckoning her to come home with wide grins and smiles. Ah. That's right, her purpose was her newfound family, the people that had become important to her. The people that she loved and had come to care for, that's what she wanted. She wanted to live for them. Most of all, she wanted to be near _**his**_ smile.

A tall redhead came forward with his arms out towards her and Mei wiped away the remaining tears in her eyes. A smile graced her own face as she ran forward into his arms and the awaiting friends that would always be beside her. She'd walked this path so long that she lost sight of the things that were important and for a while, she let confusion get the best of her. Now she really understood what she fought for and never would she let it go again. She didn't want to forget because of her fear of being alone, but she would take this loneliness and make it her strength to keep smiling and living everyday by those she called her 'family'.

Mei understood the full impact of her will and strength, the goal and dream that she wanted to reach. She wanted to live now and until the end with a bright smile on her face because she'd always come home to those that would greet her with warm hugs and gentle words. Words that she was fighting with all she' has got to hear, ones that will always make her feel like she's on top of the world. '_Welcome home, Mei.'_

Lavi's arms embraced themselves around her small frame as he muffled a smile into her hair. His soft smell of boy shampoo and books wafted through her nose, the familiar smell of his clothing brought a new set of tears to her eyes. It was so nostalgic, she couldn't believe she almost forgot about them. Mei closed her eyes and smiled into his hold, thinking of the one thing at the moment that was important to her.

'_Yes... I have my resolution, please Innocence... There's so much I want to protect right now, I don't want to die just yet. Please, just let me live and I'll follow you until the end... I will give you my soul, my heart, my everything, if you just let me live. In the end, you must protect my friends and family until the day this whole thing ends. For that, I shall follow you everywhere_.'

'_Is this your final thoughts, my child?_' it asked and Mei glanced up with determined and unwavering eyes and nodded. '_Then so it shall be. I will judge and hear out your compromise, so come forth and I will lend you my power, mistress Mei._'

With undaunted courage, Mei raised her arm out and took hold of the light that was passed down through the phoenix. It was from then on out that things began to change, the wheels of fate once again turning for its long awaited conformer of the Phoenix Fire.

----

The girl, even in death seemed to be at peace. Her pale skin against the crimson color of her blood suited her strangely well. There was something magical about her that made one pose questions against such a strange girl. The day she walked into those halls in the cafeteria, he just knew that Komui was going to bring trouble. He just didn't know she would cause so much trouble for him in particular. He hadn't anticipated her being the one last thing that would make his grandson fall to pieces in his goal of becoming a Bookman.

Bookman kneeled down towards the girl and brushed a strand of stray hair from her cold face with a silver tipped finger. The girl did have a gentle heart, that much he can distinguish and she made the people around her smile as if she were the sun in the room. She lit the way for the others to be genuinely happy when things weren't going too well, especially when Lavi was involved. In times when the boy was sulking or angry, only one person could calm his fried nerves and that person ended up to be this girl right here.

He sighed; he didn't know how Komui was going to break the news to him. It was a good thing he made the boy stay behind or else he would've lost it by now. Bookman had a feeling that something was going terribly wrong. It was the sole reason why he made Komui look after Lavi, to make sure he didn't come on this mission to fetch Mei and Toumas.

There was a neutral feeling at the moment. He didn't feel anything anyways so it was all right for him. Lavi was still young and vulnerable to things like this, no matter how far he was progressing in his steps towards becoming a Bookman, there was still a large gap between Lavi and Bookman when it came to controlling one's emotions to feel **nothing** for the events that were going around them at the moment. Bookman knew that Lavi had faced death countless times before and had learned to shut himself off from the pain that usually accompanied it, but Bookman surely knew that Lavi wasn't ready for this kind of death. One that hit too close to home, the death of a loved one.

It wasn't like Bookman wasn't susceptible to all emotions; even he was human and he had to fall sometimes when things got hard. The only time he actually let his tears fall was when he had thought he lost the only thing left in his life: his grandson to the Noahs when they all disappeared in the ark. It was the hardest feeling he had ever felt, losing someone so dear and precious. Lavi was going to be in pain when he heard of the news and he wouldn't say anything if a few tears were shed. It was only natural in this process. Bookman wasn't heartless about situations like this. This girl was special to him and no matter how much he disapproved of her being with him, she was a good fit with his childish grandson that was finally growing up in her care.

Maybe he was envious that she was able to give him the one thing he as a grandfather couldn't and at the same time angry that she was taking Lavi away from him. Lavi was the last generation of the Bookmans and the last of what remained to be his child's son. He just wouldn't give him up without a fight.

Then where was this feeling of bitterness coming from? He didn't necessarily hate this girl, she was only a child herself no older than Kanda and Lavi themselves. He didn't understand it at all and it made him uneasy to know that such an emotion existed on the plane field of a man's heart. This utter darkness that was caving in was such a heavy feeling. Bookman stood up once again to examine the destruction of the forest when he heard a rustling sound at the left end.

As a body popped out of the bush, Bookman, in one lightening fast move, produced ten deadly acupuncture needles in his hands. Each long shining needle stuck out between his fingers, ready to attack those who may come to take Mei's remaining Innocence. Toumas raised his hand against the exorcist when he saw the body of the young girl lying there, cold and colorless. There was a second of silence before Toumas threw his hands over his mouth and hurled his guts out towards the nearest bush.

"Have some respect for the dead will you?" Bookman asked with a heavy sigh as he placed the needles back into place. Toumas gathered himself as much as he could before walking towards the limp body on the ground. A muffled sound escaped Toumas' mouth and Bookman looked up at the tall Finder, surprised at his reaction. Was this Finder actually mourning for this girl that he barely knew? It had only been three days, and already they'd created a bond of friendship that was already beginning to feel closer than blood relations.

"Goodness, how old are you? Still crying, act like a man," Bookman chastised, putting his hands in his large robe-like sleeves that covered both hands. Even still, the man standing next to him broke down and fell to his knees as he bawled towards the ground. His tears fell from his eyes like raindrops, the only thing that represented the reality of the situation. Unlike the beating wings of the singing birds around them and the forever shining sun, Toumas' cries were the only thing at that moment that expressed the grief that had befallen his heart and mind.

Bookman didn't know what to say; it was all too simple and easy that it was hard to process. This girl, why was this man crying so hard for her? He knew that Finders and Exorcists had an easy, balanced relationship and sometimes it could be rough when the situation had Kanda in it. Yet, this specific Finder was crying as if a family member had died, all for this one girl. Nothing seemed to add up and the bitter feeling inside his heart was becoming unbearable. Bookman touched his chest a little, his brows furrowing together and his lips drawing into a tight frown.

"Why... Why are you crying so hard for her? You barely even knew her, it's only been three days since her mission started," Bookman stated, quite aggravated with himself and his seemingly useless questions. He just wanted to understand his thinking. The logic behind his puzzling actions.

Toumas didn't say anything, his tears choking up and keeping in the words that were about to pass his lips. Hiccups dominated his throat as he tried to settle himself down by taking deep breaths. Finally he calmed down enough to peer up at Bookman with a depressed and tear sodden face. "Do... Does Mr. Bookman not understand?" he asked the old man and Bookman frowned even harder at his question. Toumas looked back down at Mei and touched a bandaged hand against the girl's face with a pained expression.

"People cry because they're hurt, their heart is hurting so much that tears are the only ways to express their grief. We cry because we're heartbroken, sad, grief-stricken. I'm sad because it's painful to see such a deserving girl die, someone who deserves every ounce of life and opportunity that's been given to her. It might not have been long, but three days was enough to understand this young one," Toumas explained briefly, his hand retreating to his lap in fists.

"Moreover, she's the only one that truly understands all those who hide away behind false pretenses and even still she'll accept you for who you really are. Whether you're a useless Finder or someone who's hiding all the secrets and pains of the world on his own shoulders... With one smile it's like she can vanquish the darkness that seems to linger in your heart," Toumas said softly as a breeze went by and the scent of the clotting blood rose into the air and mixed itself into the wind. Toumas put his hand over his mouth again as a lump formed in his throat.

"I wonder... If that's the reason why he's in love with her," Bookman said quietly. The two men were positioned in their postures for a few seconds before either of them said anything. "Are you angry?" he asked the Finder, kneeling on the ground next to the body. Bookman had observed that the man had been kneeling in that stance for quite a while now and his jacket had been dirtied with blood and scuffles. It was torn and ripped at the bottom and still he didn't mind dirtying and putting himself through muscle pain to be with the girl.

Toumas was quiet for a moment, "I'm more sad than angry..." he replied curtly towards the question. "But I'm sure the bitter feeling will come soon enough," he added in the end and Bookman's eyes widened for a second.

"Bitter feelings...?" he murmured to himself. Was that what it was? That bitterness that he was feeling was anger? But this type was different than the others. This anger seemed far more venomous than the original anger he'd felt when Lavi did something wrong or when the girl got on his nerves. It was much stronger and loaded with a heavy feeling to it, as if the emotion itself weighed a ton on it's own. "Why is that feeling there?" he questioned casually.

Toumas once again stayed quiet then turned his head slowly towards Bookman and cocked his head at him. "I know in your line of work, when it comes to emotions... Normally you try to shut them off, but even I know you've felt it before. That protective feeling..."

'_That protective feeling..._'

Toumas' eyes averted back to the girl and he closed them, "It's the same feeling, you know... When parents want to protect their kids from getting hurt. They can't help but get angry when they see that someone has hurt their precious child, that hard and somber feeling that feels like your heart has iced over with hatred. That's true anger, anger stemming from love. You're a grandfather, you should understand this more than anyone one else. You yourself had a child and now a grandchild to look after... You ask me this because you feel it too, don't you?" Toumas asked, not looking at him.

Bookman wasn't surprised that the Finder had figured it out, but yes, everything he'd said so far had been right. He'd been a father before and no matter what the clan said, those feelings never go away no matter how hard one tried to push it away because only a fool would let their own children be fed to the cruelty of the world. He'd forgotten ever since he'd left that place...

"You're angry because they've hurt your grandson. The thought of Lavi in pain makes you mad, seeing his face twisted in anguish makes that bitter feeling bubble over the rims and it just seems to want to overflow the rim of control," Toumas mouthed quietly. The tears and the loud crying had stopped for some time, but it was replaced with a heavy tension that had Bookman shifting uneasily where he stood.

"The evac team will be here shortly, please don't forget that," was all Bookman said as he stepped back into the shadows to shade himself from the suddenly burning sun. Everything seemed to feel muddled and began penetrating into his hard-built wall of security, the one wall that has protected him from those vulnerable emotions. Bookman looked up at the sky and sighed through his nose. The road up ahead... Seems more and more unclear.

----

Riba stood outside Komui's office and just stared at the door. He couldn't bring himself to knock on it. He didn't know how to tell them the news, he hated being the bearer of bad news... But this time, it was different. This kind of news wasn't just bad, it was going to devastate everyone, especially Lavi. He had seen the two of them walking in the hallways before and both of them were just so happy to be together at the time.

He gripped the file folder in his hands and shut his eyes to the world. He didn't want this, any of this. If this was God's form of a joke, he was cruel and malicious. How could he take away a girl that innocent and brilliant? She was a soldier fighting for Him, how could he end her life so easily as if each one of them were just toys ready to be thrown away? She was just 18! She had a whole life ahead of her still; she didn't even get to experience the chance of actually living the full extent of life. He hated himself for not being able to protect them harder, all he could do was sit here and wait.

The blonde man sighed and ruffled his hair. He really needed a cigarette right now. He raised his hand and paused before actually knocking on it. Riba had wanted to pass the message along to Komui himself, didn't want some other source tainting the truth when it got to the supervisor. There was a slight pause before Komui's voice came through and Riba opened the door to the office scene. He stopped for a fraction of a second when he saw the one person he didn't want to see sitting on the couch.

"La... Lavi!" he stammered, and the boy turned his head towards him with a frown. Riba stood there frozen in his place, words stuck in his throat as he stared at the boy with wide eyes. What was he suppose to say to him? He couldn't tell him the truth, and he didn't want to lie either. Riba suddenly found himself tangled in a web of decisions; the look on the boy's' face made his conscience flinch with guilt that much more. "I... " He couldn't do it, it was too much responsibility. He couldn't face the fact that he was going to deliver the final blow to break that child's heart.

"Riba? Do you have something for me?" Komui's voice called out, but Riba wasn't listening to him. Riba's mind was still on Lavi who was slightly confused as he directed his eyes back on the newspaper that was in his hands. How could they act so calm and collected when something terrible had happened to someone so close to them? The hypocrisy of this moment was driving Riba to a corner of desperation. He didn't want to ruin the already fragile foundation of Lavi, Komui, Allen, Lenalee, and everyone else that had been fighting so hard. It wouldn't be fair.

"Riba!" This time Komui's voice was right in front of him and Riba stepped back in surprise. Komui's face was laced with worry when he stepped forward and reached his hand out for the file that was in Riba's hands. "The file's for me, right? What is it?" he asked curiously with a half smile on his tired face. Riba breathed out and hid the file behind his back.

"It's nothing, really... Nothing," he laughed, scratching his head and walking out the office doors. He wanted to run far away from this place, somewhere where he could burn the message that was held tightly in his hands. He didn't want to risk seeing them sad again... didn't want to hear the cries of Lenalee late at night. He wouldn't be able to bear it again. Riba turned and started out the door when he felt someone tug at his arm and he peered over his shoulder. Lavi was grabbing at his arm with a fierce grip and the usual brilliant emerald orbs were stained black. "Lavi."

"It's about Mei, isn't it?" he inquired slightly cold and Riba's breath came out in staggers. He could already see the pain working its way up to his face, the cold and pale expression of someone's heart breaking. "Just tell us, Riba. I'll be all right," he said softly looking down towards the ground as he let Riba's arm go. Riba closed his eyes and averted his head towards the other side.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you guys myself, but I froze up... " Riba flicked his eyes towards Lavi for a second. "I'm sorry, she's gone." Riba explained as softly as he could without breaking what was left of that boy's courage.

Komui's blood went cold as he stood there letting the words sink through. The processing stage seemed to take forever before the clatter of a pen landed on the warm floor. Komui turned his head towards Lavi in one quick movement, but it was already too late. The boy's body was rigid with fear and shock and the paper that was in his hand had fallen to the ground too. Nobody dared to say anything at that point, fearing what would happen if they did.

The Asian man stepped over and reached a hand out hoping to be able to do something, anything, to help make this easier to handle. Before he could, Lavi's fists landed on the wall next to him. Both Riba and Komui jumped a bit in fright as he stared at the back of the young man standing before them. "Lavi... Please, listen," Komui tried uselessly. There really was no point, at this stage, this kind of pain and shock wasn't something Komui could truly comprehend. He could only let him go and watch over him.

"I need some fresh air," Lavi stated blandly as he turned quickly and pushed his way through Riba and out the doors. Riba glanced over towards Komui who had his face covered by his hair and glaring glasses, but he too understood the turmoil that went behind that calm facade. Komui stepped back into his office and began shuffling papers on his desk, his back towards Riba.

Komui felt like his heart had stopped momentarily before he turned around and faced the large window that revealed a very lush and green scenery. "Get ready for preparations..." Riba knitted his brows together in worry; he could hear his boss' voice cracking. Even if he was turned around against the world, hoping no one would see... He too cried out when a piece of his world had been destroyed.

He would not cry, he would not feel sad, he would put these painful memories aside and continue living for the sake of history. He wouldn't allow himself to be sidetracked by trivial things like death, because in the end they were all going to leave him anyways. There was no way that they'd be able to stop the one thing that even God couldn't prevent. He would smile and he would laugh because that was the only thing he knew how to do. He didn't want to hurt anymore, didn't want to love because he was scared. Why was God doing this to him? Was he punishing him for being a fake? This was probably payment for always lying to the people he cared about. If it was then, he'd bear with it.

Lavi stopped walking and looked up at the blue sky, his green eye frosted over with clouds of vagueness. It hurt so much; it felt like his heart was dying slowly from each piece of memory that he'd kept of her. He wanted to say he was sorry. The way they last saw each other made him cringe with self-disgust. He was such a moron.

Silently, he slid himself against the wall, his arms wrapping themselves against his knees as he pulled them towards his heaving chest. In the quietness of that moment, he let out a small inaudible cry for help.


	55. I Know Your Secret

A/N: GAH! I'm so sorry it's SO late! I've been quite busy with prom, yearbook signing, graduation rehearsal, the actual graduation, senior week, last day of school, etc! I'm SO SO sorry! I can't believe I missed updating for Kanda's birthday, I specifically made this mostly about him too. D: I'm a failure- Sorry, readers. T.T My apologies. ): So, here's chapter 55, please review~! Even if I've been lagging a bit lately!

Chapter 55: I Know Your Secret

Marie watched as Kanda cursed under his breath the whole time they went exploring the city of Luxemburg as drips of water cascaded down in showers of raindrops from moist ceiling tops. They'd been at this for the last three hours and still hadn't found anything useful to report back to the Order. All that was left were deserted buildings that were once either shops or homes. The only strange thing was that it was as if they had just disappeared out of nowhere. The utensils and bowls that were used for eating were still out on the tables and the chairs stood poised against table sides. It was as if they vanished right then and there at that second without even realizing it.

"This is Marie reporting in; seems so far that there's no sign of life here. Yes... Yes, we found it and yes, it's in a rather perfect state buried underground. No, not yet. You want us to come in after evaluation? Mmhmm. Okay, understood. Copy that and over." Marie's voice resonated against the aged old walls and echoed itself across the empty city. It sent shivers down his own spine. There was something really odd about this place that had him feeling queasy and nauseous.

Marie shut the connection off from the golem as it floated several feet above his shoulder. He stood behind Kanda as the long haired boy ducked underneath a small entrance and disappeared for a second behind a gravel pathway that led to its insides. Five minutes passed by and Kanda still hadn't come out. Usually it took him less than 30 seconds to examine one place then exit it and head along towards the next building; what was taking him so long this time? Marie followed the traces of Kanda's presence through his Innocence and pushed the flap of cloth that was the door aside and stepped through. Suddenly he couldn't hear a sound; there wasn't even a pin prick of vibrations that he could normally hear. It was as if he had stepped into a null void of some sort.

"Kanda?" Marie's voice sounded solid and thick as the words fell from his lips and dropped to the ground as if gravity existed on words. He felt heavy and pressured as he took another step in. There was something definitely wrong here. "Yu!" he called out, this time louder than before.

"Shh," came Kanda's calm voice, "you feel that too right, Marie?" he asked as Marie groped the darkness around him to see where he was at. Seeing as this place didn't have sound vibrations, it was hard for him to distinguish where he was walking towards. "Marie, I think I just found the source of all this negative energy that keeps this place undetected from outsiders," Kanda explained swiftly as Marie heard the jingle of familiar belts clashing into each other. Kanda was preparing to fight. What? He wouldn't know, for he couldn't sense anything from his Innocence and it frustrated him that he couldn't see what Kanda saw.

"There's definitely something strange here, Kanda. You'll have to lend me a hand here since there are no sound vibrations to help me locate the target," Marie instructed as his hands reached out towards the darkness to try and concentrate. He heard Kanda pull out Mugen as he relinquished the spell to unbind it. Marie felt the pulses of the Innocence reacting to his own as he let that be his guide. "Kanda... Can you tell me what's blocking the sound waves?"

Marie heard Kanda scoff a little. "You can say it's a massive mound of negative energy left by the remains of the people that used live here," he said tiredly. "What part of 'dying' do they not understand...?!" Kanda growled slightly and Marie sighed with defeat. Leave it to Kanda Yu to be so brutally blunt with the situation.

"It's as if the city itself is preserving the feelings of what once was—the cries of those who were innocently killed that night." Marie breathed out heavily. "Can we get rid of it?" he asked.

Too bad Marie couldn't see Kanda's sudden smirk. Kanda straightened himself out and stared towards his opponent. He pointed Mugen towards the front where in the humming light of the moon a gruesome force with bloodied faces protruding out screamed inaudibly into the silence of Luxemburg. Kanda's own eyes glinted heavily against the darkness as he frowned dispraisingly at it. "Don't worry, I'm sending this thing straight back to where it belongs," he murmured.

There, sitting in the midst of Luxemburg was a large object oozing and hissing dark strands of ebony colored aura that had started to crawl its way towards the whole of the city, acting as a cover. Kanda could see faces swimming in and out of the pool of energy as it started to incarcerate the city. He sidestepped and turned his body towards the front as he took in his and Marie's position when the ground shook again. Kanda and Marie fell against the walls when the thing screamed and they both covered their ears in sudden movement.

Kanda gritted his teeth together as he opened his eyes to peer up against his opponent when the object shifted and disappeared along with the sound when silence fell around them once again. Marie dropped his hands and glanced over at his partner and heaved a sigh as sweat poured down his face.

"What the hell just happened?" Marie asked, getting up from the ground as Kanda looked around the surrounding area. He didn't answer Marie, staying quiet with Mugen in hand, shimmering in the darkness. "Kanda?"

"Get ready, Marie," Kanda said and the second those words left his lips. the blob of energy struck from the left as Kanda and Marie shot towards the right. Kanda planted Mugen into the ground to stop himself when sparks started flying when metal met against asphalt. "Marie! Now!" Kanda shouted. Marie threw out both his hands and shot out his Innocence at the large creature.

Marie crossed his hands and pulled tightly, "Noel Organs!" he shouted, tightening his grip on the string as the brute started screaming again. It struggled against Marie's hold as it wiggled and thrashed about heavily.

"Kanda! It's going to take more than just my Innocence to take this thing down!" Marie yelled across the noise. The strings were glowing and hymns began to swirl itself around the creature making it thrash that much more as if it was burning from them.

Kanda pulled his sword out and started running forward, leaping and swinging the Mugen down. "Kaichu: Ichigen!" Right there and then a blast of blue light erupted from Mugen and lashed out at the creature with its swarm of supernatural creatures. They wrapped themselves around the big brute and started their attack. The object flung its head around and pulled Marie with him. Marie was sent flying across the room when he was smacked against the wall, shattering it.

With Marie off its shoulders, it headed for Kanda as it lashed out a tentacle at him. Kanda jumped and headed for a fallen pillar next to him, but not before it grazed him in the shoulder. Kanda winced and fell rolling to the pillar instead. He backed up against the large granite stone and glanced over his shoulder at the crying monster that was now breaking everything around him to look for both Marie and him when he took notice of a dark swirling mass in the center of its chest. The Asian man narrowed his eyes with speculation.

"Damn, what the hell are we up against?" Marie mumbled, getting up from the ground and shaking his head with rubble falling off his shoulders. He leaned against the wall and peered over towards the battle field that now only consisted of Kanda behind a broken pillar. He touched his earpiece and pulled out his golem. "Marie here, how you holding up Kanda? Over." The golem buzzed a bit before any answers came through.

"Che. This is taking longer than expected," Kanda's voice crackled over and Marie just heaved a sigh. "Marie, you go on back around it and I'll take the front. From what I've gathered, there's a single mass that's hidden in the center of its body, if you can buy some time, I'll take it out," instructed Kanda and it amused Marie a bit. "Got it?" Kanda asked, irritation laced into his words.

"What makes you so sure that by taking out the center, it'll destroy the being altogether?" Marie asked. There was only the sound of the thing behind them when Kanda's reply came sizzling over.

"Are you doubting me?" He asked with an angry voice and Marie chuckled to himself. This was so like Kanda, doing everything on his own without ever telling anyone what he was thinking.

"Okay, okay. I got it. Just tell me when," Marie replied, fixing the strings on his eight fingers that were still attached to his hand. Ever since the trip to get Timothy, Marie had to learn how to use his Innocence with just his remaining fingers after two of them were infected by Akuma poison. It was strange at first, but he had gotten quite used to it after some practice rounds back at the Order.

Kanda heard his own golem crack as Marie's voice ended. He looked over his shoulder again as pieces of debris came raining down as another wall was destroyed. At this point, there wouldn't be a city anymore if it kept going like this. He waited patiently as it crawled its way towards the other side of the city walls before he called into the golem for Marie to strike.

He saw Marie turn from the crashed walls and slide against the prickly ground when Kanda gave himself another second before his target reached the approximate distance before he struck. What he didn't know was the world of darkness he was going to enter.

And he had no idea how difficult it was going to be.

----

"To think a place like this existed..." Miranda murmured, walking next to Lenalee as they slowly descended a pair of ladders. They had to be careful since the whole place was slippery wet with fresh dew from the morning mist as the trio stepped down into the mushy landfill of mud. "Ah, it resounds with a very depressing aura, don't you think?" Miranda asked, shivering as they gathered together to plan out their trip around the city.

"You can say that again, this place gives me the creeps. Let's not stay long; hopefully we can gather all the data we need in a one round trip," suggested Lenalee who was already covered in another layer of thick jackets. She turned her head towards William who was currently lighting a lantern to guide them in the darkness that was penetrating through even the slightest mark of light source from above. "Are we ready, William?" Lenalee called out and her voice slightly bounced back to her.

"Yeah, I'm ready as I'll ever be," William replied strongly with a thumb up and a grin on his rugged face. He beckoned them to come towards his way as they started into the vast coldness that seemed to cover the surrounding buildings. Both Lenalee and Miranda saw the burn marks and broken rubble as evidence that what they saw earlier really happened and it made them that much more disgusted and horrified at what the Millennium Earl could do with his destructive powers.

Miranda covered her mouth as they passed several overturned cribs and fallen toys on the ground that were slathered with a thick coat of ash. The sight of all these things being wasted away seemed just too much, children and families being killed so relentlessly. There was just something really wrong with everything that was here. "Lenalee..." Miranda mumbled, slightly weak in the knees.

Lenalee turned a head towards her comrade and gave her a small smile as she gripped a soft small hand on the older woman's arm. "I know, Miranda, I know. A little longer and it'll be over. I promise." William made his way down a broken street with buildings and homes that were demolished beyond recognition as they passed by them in silence. "I wonder what were their last thoughts as they watched their homes get destroyed," Lenalee whispered to herself. Will glanced at her for a second before turning his head back towards the front, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that he knew the exact feeling.

"Sorry." The words slipped out of her lips with her head tilting down in awkwardness. The words lingered between them as they continued to walk deeper into the cavern of what they can call modern day Pompeii. A brush of cold air passed by their legs and Lenalee felt goose bumps break across her arms and the hairs on the back of her neck rise suddenly from the contact of something strange in the air. She turned to peer over her shoulder only to see darkness and the ghostly shadows of Miranda's face as they flickered across her face.

"Something wrong, Lenalee?" William asked her in concern. Lenalee smiled and shook her head when the feeling came back and this time her whole body shook with fright as she stumbled to the wall next to her. Something was definitely here that didn't want them prying into this forsaken city.

"Lenalee!" both William and Miranda came over in seconds with worry ingrained into their faces. "What's wrong Lenalee? If you're not up for it tonight, we don't have to do it now. We can postpone this till tomorrow."

Lenalee steadied herself and raised her head as her eyes widened suddenly from the form that was accumulating itself behind both the oblivious exorcist and Finder as Lenalee gritted her teeth and flared her Innocence to life. The next few seconds felt like it went frame by frame as Lenalee shoved the two aside and pushed herself against their shoulders and started towards the akuma-like monster that had appeared from the darkness. From the depths of the shadowed covered city, a burning light flashed across the street when the two collided. Miranda and William were pushed away by the sheer force of the collision as the two crashed against broken walls and rubble.

William was seeing stars when he opened his eyes, the light still throbbing not too far off. The sounds around him seemed to be all whirring noises and he couldn't process what was going on very clearly as he sat up and rubbed his aching head. He felt moist liquid seeping down his forehead when he looked at his thickly gloved hand and saw dark red streaks against the white fabric. Apparently he was bleeding. He winced and turned his head to see a gruesome sight of a large _thing _fighting against Lenalee. That was the only word William could find that described the image before him.

He saw Lenalee kick the beast as it faltered against her attack while she landed on the ground. She was panting heavily and was almost out of breath; he needed to find someway to help. William took off his heavy bag and crawled with hasty steps towards the fallen and still unconscious Miranda as he grabbed her shoulders and raised her head to his eye level. He gently shook her shoulders calling out her name as she furrowed her brows together in pain and groaned.

Miranda opened her eyes a bit when she saw William fade in and out of her vision before the striking pain at the back of her head caused her to grimace. "What just happened?" she muttered heavily, trying to get up with the help of William holding her up. It was hard to breath as she tried to get everything into place but the flashes of light were making it rather difficult for her disoriented head to think straight. The older English woman tried to cover her eyes as she blinked several times to adjust her eyesight to the sudden light surrounding them.

"Thank god you're awake, Miranda. Lenalee needs your help," he pointed out with his fingers directing her towards the large object that stood in the middle of the street. "I'm not sure if it's an akuma or not, but I don't think Lenalee can hold out much longer with just herself out there," he said, biting his lips and looking up back at the battle field.

Miranda couldn't help but shake in his arms; something was sucking her self-confidence away. She suddenly felt so useless as thoughts started swimming into her head. Her Innocence was a defensive type; there was no way she could help Lenalee in this situation. She shook her curly dark head and gnashed her teeth together. "I can't, William, I just can't," she said as she looked up at him helplessly, "What can I do?" she pleaded and William didn't know how to respond. He'd never been faced with such a decision for an exorcist. He had always thought that they were the strong ones, the ones that were always fighting. He didn't even consider the fact that they were just like him too.

The monster suddenly stopped and turned its stoic face towards Miranda and William and started to ooze its way towards them. Lenalee, who had been knocked across a half burnt home pushed herself up and tried to scream for them to run, but her voice couldn't reach them fast enough. Her body was in immense pain and wouldn't move the way she wanted them to. She could only watch helplessly as it made its way to her fellow comrades. She saw it then, a dark strand connecting the beast to Miranda, covering her up like a protective gel. Miranda was in danger.

The abrupt silence of crumbling debris had both the adults looking up when William's face turned pale from the thing that stood above them like a fallen angel. It just stood there, staring at them with its large eyes bulging out its sockets with red veins clotting their way across the white parts. The many hands froze in place in midair as the two on the ground just ogled at the large monstrosity when William felt Miranda freeze in his arms. He pried his eyes away from it and looked down. A clump formed in his throat as Miranda's eyes rolled back into her head, her mouth dropping wide open as if she had seen a ghost and a whispery strip of breath was escaping her lips. William could only stare, mesmerized by it.

An eerily beautiful orb of white appeared over her pale lips as they made their way up towards the large creature who now had a grotesque tongue stretched out to grab it when Lenalee's shrieking voice broke across the deafening silence and caught Will's attention at the last minute. "WILLIAM! You mustn't let that thing get to it! Get Miranda out of here! Hurry!" she screamed at him and William looked back at the deathly pale Miranda and the escaping soul as he stretched out his arm mindlessly and wrapped his fingers around the small orb before **it** could get to it.

The next second, only an ear-piercing scream could be heard across the whole city as the cries bounced off the walls and ricocheted everywhere, making it almost impossible to avoid. William dropped Miranda as she rolled a few inches away and Lenalee clutched her ears. She felt like her ears were about to explode if it didn't stop. It was in agony, shouting out its pain, letting the world know of the anguish it was harboring inside its heart. It was crying out the sadness that was bestowed upon the city a few days back by the Earl himself. Lenalee felt it vibrating inside her own chest, the ache that seemed to linger there as it continued to bellow the song of death upon those who would listen.

Lenalee crawled her way towards William slowly and grabbed his shoulder to turn her around. She scrunched her brows together and pushed him towards the path that they came in from. "Go!" she mouthed at him and his lips sagged into a frown while shaking his head hard. He grabbed her arms and pulled her with him, but Lenalee pried his fingers off her and stared straight into his eyes, her solid purple ones shining dangerously in the dark corridor of the labyrinth city. The strong pulsating scream erupted stronger this time that it had them on their knees again; they didn't have much time if things kept going like this. She could already see the blood seeping from William's ears.

The Asian girl pulled Miranda over William's shoulders and clutched her hands over his that were covering the one thing that can save Miranda. "Go now. I can handle it, please trust me, William. Protect her with your life," she whispered into his ear before sending him back with the kick of her boots. The last scene he saw was Lenalee's gentle smile before a burst of cold air washed William away into the safety of the world above.

----

_'Will it hurt?'_ He asked looking up at the old man that stood before him. He couldn't make out the expression that was on his master's face. The glare of his glasses masked the identity of his emotions and so the little boy was left clueless. He didn't know what was going on, but he was somewhat glad that his master was there by his side. He promised that he wouldn't get hurt, he promised that he wouldn't let anyone hurt him. He promised. So why did it end up like this? He embraced him, before _they _took him away, told him everything was going to be all right if he was a good boy. He lied, they lied.

They destroyed him, took his soul and sold it to the devil to create a demon, a monster. They took his pure innocence and turned it to something vile and disgusting that he couldn't even begin to explain it. That was why he was the way he was; he couldn't trust anyone there because they were all LIARS. They were people who just treated a person like family only to use him in the end. There was no happy ending and there was no such thing as true happiness.

_'Then why are you still with them? Why not just kill them all? You strong enough and you definitely have the mentality to do it.'_

That voice. He attempted to turn, but only darkness prevailed when he did. In another minute, a small figure rose from the ground. It didn't take another second for Kanda to realize who it was: the owner of the voice from the beginning. "Chibi." Her head lifted up and gave him a stupid grin and an apologetic laugh.

"Yu...!" Mei faltered, "It seems like I've used up all my energy fighting Tyki earlier, will you help me up?" she asked, raising her arm up. Kanda narrowed his eyes at her before growling to himself and walked over to her. In one swoop, he closed his arm around her waist and lifted her up next to him. "Sorry for being a nuisance again... Yu-kun," she breathed into his ear, a smirk spreading across her face. From within the quietness, a stabbing noise ripped across between them.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Dark red droplets fell from the blade stuck in Kanda's abdomen as he held Mugen to the so-called-'Mei's' neck. Pain seared through his lower torso, but he didn't care. What pissed him off was the girl standing behind Mugen. "Chibi never called me by my first name, so who the fuck are you?" the Asian man demanded with a death glare in his eyes.

"Ku~ So cold towards an old friend," the girl answered back with a pout. "Very perceptive in being able to see through me. Well done, pretty boy." The image changed slowly as her skin took on a grayish tone and stigmata signs appeared on her forehead. Her topaz eyes turned into a bright golden hue and her long dark hair shortened to a blue messy one. It was Rodo Kamelot from the Noah clan.

She leaned closer to him, "Does it excite you? Being able to be this close to her?" she asked haughtily with another smirk as she stuck out her tongue. Rodo purposely changed her form back to Mei's and reached a hand over, her fingers touching his face lightly. She felt him flinch slightly from surprise. The girl giggled at his reaction as he pushed the blade closer causing her to bleed a little. "Do it, I dare you. I want to see if you're able to kill the girl that you love so much." She pressured him, wrapping her small hands around his and pushing it harder against her pale neck. The bright red liquid bled profusely from the wound.

Kanda stepped back from the words that left her lips. "You're out of your fucking mind," he answered her, wiping his face with the sleeve of his uniform. "Love is a useless feeling in this world. I'm not like that airhead chibi and her boyfriend, baka usagi," he told her straight out, but Rodo could hear the uncertainty in the man's voice. The girl laughed out loudly at his proclamation. She floated above him then zoomed in right in front of his face making him frown with distaste.

"Then tell me this, why are you so jealous?" she asked. The words struck Kanda with more force than he had anticipated when he felt himself stagger backwards with self-shock. She was lying, definitely lying, she had to be lying! The girl observed the look on her prey's face and smiled to herself, "Oh, poor baby... The pain on your face isn't as cute as Allen's, but you'll do," she purred wrapping herself next to him.

Kanda shut his eyes and concentrated on the blade stuck in his abdomen; none of this stuff was real! Kanda bit down on his lips and took hold of the blade and pulled. The jabbing pain sent him reeling backwards when he felt the air being knocked out of him. He could still hear her drifting laughter echoing in his head. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth; he wasn't going to just let her win like this. He was going to find her and slice her to a million little pieces and feed them to the sharks.

"Kanda! Dear god, I thought I lost you when you suddenly disappeared into that black orb after stabbing that THING in the heart," Marie's baritone voice rumbled in his ears. Kanda opened his eyes and saw Marie above him and he growled annoyingly and sat up. Clapping noises erupted around them like the aftermath of a show and both Marie and Kanda shot up in fighting stances.

"Oh! That was fun, we should do that more often, Yu-chan! Not a lot of people can break away from my one-of-a-kind worlds built specifically to kill my preys." Rodo's voice rang out around them. "You really are something! You know... Because I like you so much, I'm going to let you up on something. Here, a present." Rodo giggled. A clink of gold fell from the sky and hit the ground rolling next to Kanda's foot.

Slowly, Kanda picked up the object and examined it; it was a button from their new uniform that normally had each person's name etched on the back. He turned it around and something inside him snapped. Rodo appeared methodically on a surviving pillar. A held back laughter escaped her lips when she looked down at Kanda.

"Apparently Tyki had a bit too much fun with her. It really is too bad that she's not with us anymore... Hope you can live with that... Kanda Yu." she murmured softly into the air as her body disappeared in a haze of mist.

Neither of them could breathe as Marie felt his own heart throb with the same pain he felt when he heard Allen almost died. Moreover he was more concerned about Kanda than himself when he reached out a hand towards his partner. In a flick of a wrist he slapped it away with Mugen and Marie flinched. He could feel the deathly aura around him at the moment. Kanda was furious.

Without another sound, the Japanese man turned around and stalked away from Marie suddenly as if in a hurry. Marie turned his head over and watched as Kanda looked up where they had fallen from and tried to climb up only to fail as he fell backwards. "Kanda..." Marie murmured softly with the furrows of his forehead. Marie walked over and tried to calm Kanda down. "Kanda, please. Let me do this." Kanda whirled around with his sharp ebony eyes flecked with blue glaring at him. "I know, and I'm sorry, but you won't get anywhere if you rush things."

"Rush? Rush!? Just get me up there, Marie! We're heading back to the Order. We've collected enough information as it is," he said smoothly, but Marie could still hear the strained tone in it. Marie nodded, not saying another word.

"Okay, okay, Kanda." Marie said as he launched his strings, "Grab on," he instructed as Kanda held his hand and the two ascended back up. Even still, it wasn't going to change the fact that what Rodo said just might be possible that another comrade had fallen. The only difference unknown to the others was, _**he**_ was actually hurting.


	56. Foreboding

A/N: HOLY SHIT! What happens when Lavi and Kanda both go at it?! WHO KNOWS?! But as time marches forward and Mei is still on Death's front door... Just how far will each go to save her? :O It's a bit difficult to go along accordingly with the manga series as its on hiatus, but I will try to make the story take place around that time span where the third exorcists come in and the truth about Kanda Yuu~

Chapter 56: Foreboding

The south wind blew as William shivered, he clutched his hand tighter, too afraid to move. He feared that if he let go, he would've disappointed Lenalee. Whom he was still waiting for since she purposely sent him away so he wouldn't be of danger. William pulled the unconscious exorcist closer to himself to keep her body warm, even though as much as he tried she was still dropping in body temperature. At this rate she wasn't going to make it till morning. His mind was fumbled with worries for Lenalee and Miranda that he himself was feeling weak. He just wished that everything would be all right.

"Thank goodness you're safe, Miranda too." came a soft voice. William looked up and tears sprung into his eyes. "Sorry, it took so long, that thing was pretty obstinate." she laughed brushing her hair aside that had fallen over her eyes. Even though she was covered in dirt and slight bruises, her clothes being ripped and torn, she was still smiling. William wiped his tears on one of his sleeves and shook his head vigorously with a relieved smile on his face.

"Lenalee!" William sighed wanting to run over to her and hug her. "Lenalee, dear god... Are you all right?" he asked almost in a fatherly tone. Lenalee scratched her head and nodded with a soft smile on her lips. "Are you sure? You seemed really banged up." Lenalee switched off her boots and landed gingerly on the ground below her and heaved a sigh.

"I've been worse, Will, don't worry about me. Now let's take a look at Miranda," she said walking over next to him and kneeled down. "Here... Let me see. Also, thanks for looking after her." she said softly touching his hand. "It's okay to let go now..." she murmured. She could feel his hand trembling, the fear still apparent in his actions. "I'm sorry, for just leaving so suddenly." Lenalee smiled gently as she patted his hands to comfort him, even if it was just a little.

William managed a small grin before opening his hands, the little wisp of white light twinkling in the air. Lenalee cupped the light in her hands and delicately placed it where Miranda's heart would be as she closed her eyes. "Miranda... If you can hear me, please... Follow my voice and come home." she mumbled in a praying motion. The air around them fluctuated slightly as a blow of wind discharged itself from the light. "It'll be all right... You're not useless at all."

"What... What are you doing?" William questioned, slightly confused how Lenalee was talking to a small orb of light. Lenalee sighed through her nose and brought the light closer to herself and whispered something tenderly into it.

"Miranda... In her own ways... Very strong. She's caring and she's very kind to Allen and the rest of us. Even though she falters sometimes, she still gets back up and tries even harder to improve herself." Lenalee explained without turning her attention away, "She's not afraid to be scared, but sometimes... People take advantage of of her open nature." she brushed back her shoulder length hair and paused a second before returning to her explanation. "That thing must've took notice of Miranda's insecurities and reversed it against herself. She'll be all right after we return this to her." she pointed at the light.

"You really understand your fellow comrades, don't you Lenalee?" William smiled at her and the girl laughed a little.

"They're the only family I have left, next to my brother that is. You get to know them after a while." Lenalee managed. "Now, to return what's rightfully hers," Lenalee placed the orb over Miranda's chest. It hovered for a second before it disappeared and a murmur of the unconscious woman had both William and Lenalee sigh in relief.

Miranda sat up with a dazed look on her face as the images of William and Lenalee floated before her like Picasso paintings before they coincided to be one clear picture. She blinked several times and sat up slowly with a small wince. She rubbed her head and muttered something under her breath, "Ohh, feel like I've been hit by one of those rocks again..." she mumbled thinking back to the days when kids use to chase her around town throwing rocks at her. When she glanced up, she was surprised to see tear stained eyes of both Lenalee and Willima before Lenalee gave her a strong and sturdy hug. Miranda looked confused at both the girl and the Finder, trying to understand what just happened, "Did something happen?" she questioned with her fine brows arched in bewilderment.

William only sighed while dropping backwards in exhaustion and Lenalee shook her head, "It's nothing," she replied patting the woman's back. It would be best not to give Miranda a heart attack if they told her that she almost died. Maybe one day if she ever got curious, there might be a possibility that she'll tell Miranda. "You think you can walk?" Lenalee asked Miranda gingerly taking an arm in one hand to help the older woman out. Miranda nodded her head and stumbled awkwardly into William's arms as he took hold of her other arm. The German lady took notice of all the bruises and blood that was oozing from underneath Lenalee's Order uniform and a stab of guilt shot through her heart.

"Lenalee... Those wounds," she started and Lenalee placed a hand on hers and Miranda lowered her gaze in shame. "I really am no good, aren't I?" she mustered out from a heap of angry tears that were leaking out her dark black orbs and she felt Lenalee squeeze her arms. "I'm so sorry I couldn't be of help..." she festered angrily at herself. Lenalee bit her tongue to force herself to not start yelling at Miranda for being such an idiot. Never once in her life did she ever think Miranda was useless.

"Miranda... Stop it. Remember when we first met? What me and Allen told you?" Lenalee asked. Miranda looked up surprised at her words, Lenalee focused on the steps ahead of her and didn't turn herself around. "It's because of you that we're here now. We were able to figure out what happened and finally help those who are still stuck in this world with pain to pass on peacefully. Without you, I don't know where we would be right now... And that's more than enough, Miranda." Lenalee said airily with a hidden smile, "'I'll bear my own injuries. As long as I live, I'll be able to heal.' That's what Allen said to you that day..." Lenalee's head lowered itself before she turned and gave Miranda a sweet laugh, "The injuries... If I live I can heal... Although the scars will remain, I'm still here because of Miranda's care and kindness that's always being showered around me... Thank you, Miranda!"

Miranda at that point burst out into tears as she leaped at Lenalee and gave her a large hug. Lenalee just laughed embracing her back with an unsure Finder following close behind them with a confused expression on his face.

_That's right, this path that I have chosen for myself... I promised myself that I would find a place that I can belong and truly try and change. I don't want to be that same old depressed woman from back home anymore, this time around... I'm going to make a difference, with the help of my new family..._

A pair of golden eyes followed the trio out towards the edge of the remaining village as the shadow gritted its teeth in anger. She didn't think they would take out that large spirit beast so fast, she actually underestimated them. Not even a strong essence like that was able to stop them completely, it was time to move onto stage two of the plan, for the show must go on. The earl and his plans are moving accordingly as they are slipping into act two of their grand play, even if she was able to delay the exorcists for a mere half a day, it was enough. The shadow shifted and the moonlight finally caught a glimpse of long blonde hair and glowing eyes behind dark shades as the Lulu Belle licked her lips and vanished.

----

Toumas continued to stroke the girl's cold pale face as if she was only sleeping. It made Bookman feel slightly strange standing there quite perplexed by his actions and movements. It was like Toumas was in denial that Mei was dead. Bookman knew that it was a hard fact to accept, but when reality was this close to your face, how can anyone still be so oblivious and ignorant to it? It was absurd at how people can just completely shut down at the face of Death. Even though Bookman and Toumas came to a mutual agreement that this moment caused for a large change in a lot of peoples' lives, it didn't mean he agreed upon the fact that people start acting like the world has ended. He didn't understand why people couldn't learn to _move on_.

_It's not like everyone's had the chance to shut their heart out to everyone that's ever cared about you, Bookman. _His thoughts whirred dangerously in his mind and Bookman scoffed at himself for even thinking such ludicrous ideas and delusions that he needs anyone in his life. Especially at this age, it was better to go quietly and let his grandson take over in a few years, yes... That should be good. With Toumas and Bookman all in their own worlds and their attention detached from the current situation, they didn't feel the sudden heat that swelled around them like a pressure cooker about to blow.

Before either of them could figure out what was going on, a force stronger than anything else Bookman has ever felt exploded before Toumas as both the Finder and the exorcist were thrown back like rag dolls in the hands of God. Toumas hit a tree not too far off and Bookman landed precariously on the tip of a large rock. He watched with narrowed eyes as he examined the scene that laid before him. Hot wind was whipping around him like a sandstorm in a desert, the heat was increasing with each blow that soon Bookman's clothes were stained with sweat.

It was happening again. That girl's Innocence was acting up again in order to protect its host just like Allen and Lenalee, except hers felt a bit different. It was angry at something, the heat was proof of it. The last time that this happened, Bookman remembered clearly that it was just a large phoenix that appeared in the sky wrapping its large wings around Mei's body, engulfing both Lavi and her into a protective shield of sorts. He never would've thought that Mei's Innocence would've evolved with each attempt at reviving her life. Bookman brought his hand out to block an especially strong gust as his uniform tore a bit from the strength of the heat.

Mei's body hung in midair as waves of heat kept expanding over the lush forest, destroying the greenery around it. Soon the effects of the heat could be seen as trees started to wilt from the flames and the charred ones were already breaking down to gray ashes. Finally, another explosion erupted from her body as the remaining few surviving trees were taken apart like insects being dissected. The only thing remained was a large stone in the middle of what now was the desert once connected to the oasis that was currently being eaten alive by Mei's Innocence. Bookman furrowed his brows in curiosity at what the stone was, but large part of his attention was focused the girl.

The sultriness of the attacks stopped and dropped to a cooler temperature as Mei's body landed softly on the golden sand beneath her. Her already torn uniform were now only in fragments as majority of her skin and body were revealed to the outside world like a newborn baby. Bookman cracked open an eye and scanned the area to make sure it was safe to go over. He saw that Toumas had been knocked unconscious as he jumped from behind the rock and started his trek towards the body.

She was breathing. Bookman stared at her for a whole second examining her pulse to finally realize that Mei was _**alive**_. It bothered him that there was something awfully wrong with her, something's changed in her body as he placed a coat over her small frame. She seems the same, and it doesn't seem like there was any sort of change towards her body. It wasn't like she's sprouted wings or an extra eye on her forehead, which to his relief did not happen. Yet, there was definitely something within her that bothered him a lot. An aura that seems to be hidden within herself, a powerful source of energy that can be devastating. An involuntary shudder rippled through his old-aged body as Bookman glanced at the girl on the ground with suspicious eyes. For now, he'd just have to watch over her with careful eyes.

Bookman's golem flew from his sleeves as it crackled to life, "Bookman here, it seems like there's a change of plans, get me two stretchers and some extra clothes... stat." with that he placed the golem back in and examined the results of her Innocence. If this was her asleep, he wondered what catastrophe laid ahead when Mei woke up.

----

"Is it me or does this place seem strangely silent?" William asked stepping into the Order's doors as Lenalee and Miranda stepped in from behind and halted at the sudden heaviness that greeted them. Like William said, it was _deathly _silent in here. Not even her brother who traditionally came and greeted her was here to welcome her home. A falling feeling cascaded down around her heart as Lenalee took a step into the dark corridors. Something was awfully wrong, and it scared her what it might be if they walked in any further. Lenalee felt someone touch her arm when she turned her head to see Miranda smiling gently down at her. Even still, Lenalee couldn't get the sick feeling from her body to stop. It was like she was going to throw up or something.

William looked over at Lenalee and noticed the strange color that was forming on Lenalee's face when he stepped over and peered down at her with concern, "Are you feeling all right? You seem to be turning slightly green in the face," he pointed out and Lenalee almost fell backwards from his sudden closeness. Before she could answer, hurried footsteps started echoing from their left as arguing voices entered into their hearing range. One wasn't angry, it was more pleading than mad while the other pair of footsteps stayed silent. The voices were quite familiar as the faces of Marie and Kanda appeared from the darkness. They must've entered from the waterway of the Order's many entrances. They could hear Marie trying to persuade Kanda of something, but they weren't close enough for Lenalee and the others to get a grasp of what they were saying.

Marie was the first to catch a glimpse of the others standing by the door with dumbfounded expressions on their faces as they stared at the two men stalking pass them. Well, more like Kanda was stalking and Marie following behind like his mother trying to calm him down. Marie was only able to manage a wave before he ran after Kanda who had already zoomed pass the others without a second glance. Both Miranda and Lenalee just gave each other strange looks before watching the disappearing bodies vanish at the next corner, but not before they caught onto Marie's last words, "At least she's still alive!" he called out after Kanda. This time Lenalee and Miranda froze in their spots, shocked speechless. So her feelings were right after all.

William took notice of the silence and looked at the two, suddenly Lenalee started running forward towards where Kanda and Marie had disappeared to. Miranda was about to follow, but turned to towards William and gave him a small thanks for all the help in their mission from earlier before speeding down the hallway after Lenalee, leaving a rather confused Finder behind.

Beep, beep. Beep, beep. Beep, beep. The sounds of machines whirled around the limp body of a young girl sleeping peacefully in covers of white. The windows were open and the curtains blew in quietly from the summer breeze as the scent of different mixtures of flowers waltzed in like a summer sonata. She seemed so... calm and _normal_. She didn't even look like an exorcist fighting for her life, she just seemed to be _sleeping_. Everything was covered in a sheet of tranquility like this precise moment didn't belong in a world like this, where war devastated the outside world. This moment right here belonged in a storybook, where happy endings existed and people got their wishes. A place where she would be safe... and happy. Lavi placed the book on the white table next to the hospital bed and sat down on a stool as he pulled the chair closer to the girl.

A hushed silence hung between her and the boy that sat next to her. Lavi didn't know where to start. The moment he heard she was alive, the world seemed to come to life all over again. The feelings that exploded inside himself were so overwhelming, there's just no words to describe it. Even still, when he saw her lay there motionless on the stretcher, reality hit him hard. They didn't know when she was going to wake up. It could be tomorrow, hours, days... Even _years_. They said there wasn't anything wrong with her, not even a bruise or cut on her hands. It was like she's been reborn anew. Then what was it that was keeping her from waking up?

_Maybe she doesn't want to wake up if it means she has to see you. _The thought repeated itself in his head over and over again until it became like a mantra to him. Maybe his thoughts were right, with the way he's been treating her... He wouldn't wake up either if he was in her position. Although the thought went strong, there was still a little flicker of second doubt in his mind. He wanted to see her smile again, he wanted to hear her soothing voice, he wanted to touch her, to feel her, to be with her. He needed her. Lavi reached out and took her right hand and held close to him in a praying motion. "Please... wake up, Mei." he whispered desperately in hopes that she'll hear his voice and come back to him.

Just when he was about to finish up his visit, Lavi heard voices coming towards Mei's room. The redhead's face turned into panic when footsteps could be heard drawing closer and closer to the room. He had to get out of here before anyone sees him in here saying such sappy stuff or else once Allen and Kanda finds out, neither of them was going to let him live it down. He could just imagine the rest of his life being tortured by their stupid rumors. He'd rather die than face the horror of what Allen might use from this opportunity against him. Lavi stood up in a hurry and glanced around the room, there was nowhere to go and going outside meant blowing his cover so he dove behind the tall cupboards that extra sheets were stored in.

Lavi recognized the voices and it consisted of Marie, Lenalee, Miranda, and a grunt that sounded like Kanda. Kanda?! Why would Kanda of all people be here? Lavi thought he didn't give a damn about others, so why Mei's room? Unless the Almighty Kanda has finally fallen to peer pressure, then that would be a completely different story. But Kanda falling to peer pressure, not in this life time! It made the young Bookman curious as to why Kanda would come at all, especially when it's someone that got on his nerves like no tomorrow. Lavi heard the door close and shuffling of feet before the scrape of chair against squeaky hospital floor took over the quietness that returned to room. It stayed like for almost ten whole minutes that Lavi thought whoever it was must've fallen asleep, cause he sure knew his own buttock was.

Right at the moment when Lavi was about to step out and give up waiting, the low voice of Kanda caught him off guard as he threw a hand over his mouth in shock. Lavi skidded back to his hiding place and sat there letting the surprise process in his mind. His thudding heart pounded against his ribcage. It's Kanda... Kanda of all people here to see Mei. What the hell does that mean? Lavi's thoughts were now flying at speeds not normal to regular humans as he tried to think of every possible possibility as to why _**that **_man would be in the room. He heard scuffling of unsure footsteps pacing around before it stopped and a low growl emitted itself from Kanda.

"I swear chibi... When you wake up, I'm going to dissect you slowly until you're nothing but slices of sashimi being fed to the dogs." he threatened and Lavi felt cold sweat break across his brows. Wow, what a nice way to greet an unconscious comrade that almost died out on the battlefield. There was a large huff of exhaled breath before any more words were exchanged, "Fuck! You're been driving me nuts these past months and I can't understand what these pestering feelings are!" he grumbled angrily at the sleeping girl who only answered him back with silence. "I can't... concentrate and I can't do anything right when you're around! You piss me off, grate on my nerves, and you act like an idiot, but I can't seem to stop thinking and worrying about you." he revealed with a sigh.

The words hung around Lavi like a heavy curtain of second hand smoke as he sat there listening to Kanda rant about things he didn't understand. It didn't take much for Lavi to comprehend why it was so difficult for Kanda to realize what those feelings were. Kanda spent his whole life shutting himself away from the people around him, it wasn't hard not to believe that for once Kanda was oblivious to his own feelings towards Mei because he wasn't used to them. Lavi placed his head on his knees, he failed at being a Bookman, even Kanda was doing a better job than him. It wasn't that part of that left Lavi feeling cold and strange, it was the fact that he wasn't alone. Lavi unclasped his hands from his lips and sagged his shoulders tiredly, why didn't he see it coming? Why couldn't he see that Kanda had also fallen in love with the girl sleeping so soundly on the bed?

----

The atmosphere outside Mei's hospital room was tense and it felt too quiet and awkward. It had the mixtures of fear, death, and denial as the three sat motionless on chairs that were being provided as they left Kanda in the room to speak with the coma induced Mei. Marie leaned his head against the white walls and let a slow sigh escape his lips. Lenalee was having a hard time trying not to shake as Miranda placed a gentle arm around her and pulled her into a comforting hug while whispering encouraging words into her hair to try and calm the girl down. Miranda knew how much this would hurt Lenalee because this was everything to her and Miranda didn't know how much more the young girl can handle before she completely broke down.

"She'll be all right, right?" Lenalee asked with her voice cracking under the pressure and Marie could only lower his head without a reply and Lenalee chocked on a larger lump that crawled its way to her throat. "She can't... She just can't..!" she replied with a furious wipe to her face. Miranda was starting to tear up herself, watching Lenalee act so hopeless was breaking her heart.

"She'll live this time," a calm voice came hurtling towards them from down the hall and all three shoulders perked up at the sound. Lenalee raised her head and suddenly shuddered at the image of a group of menacing people come forth their way. There was something strange about these people as the odd feeling of utter doom wouldn't go away and Lenalee started to shake her head wanting them out of here. Even if they presented a disturbing aura, they were also strangely beautiful. Especially the ones that lead the group. The man had light apricot colored hair with strange green markings along its shocking sky blue eyes while the woman with her wavy platinum blonde hair looked around with her enigmatic lilac eyes decorated with blue markings around it. Her soft pink lips pursing every now and then in thought.

"Now, now, Madarao. Don't be scaring the other exorcists again. You guys barely got here and already stirred up trouble for me by knocking out Allen in the process," a coy voice playfully interjected as the group parted and both Lenalee and Marie looked up surprised with mouths gaped wide up at the familiar voice. From behind the group a tall blonde haired woman stepped out with a wide smile on her face as she saw Lenalee and the others. "What's with the gloomy faces? I'm here to see my favorite exorcist, and this is the welcome wagon that I get?" she asked happily with a clap of her hands. Marie was the first to stand and face the woman.

"Head Brach Renee Epstein!" he started and Renee smiled even wider for him, "What... What is the meaning of this?" he questioned her with a frown. If the North American Branch was here with _**those people**_ of all places, this meant they wanted Mei for something. Renee's face fell a bit at his words and her eye twitched at his audacity to question his superiors. Komui was definitely doing a lousy job at keeping his people well-mannered.

"Komui told me _**she'd **_be here," Renee purred dangerously with a glint in her eyes that Lenalee, Miranda, and Marie couldn't comprehend, "Don't make me have to hurt you to get to her." she said darkly hinting at the specific person she wanted. The people standing behind her took a dubious step forward as their eyes darkened to a shade of black, they were ready to kill if they had to. Lenalee didn't understand what was going on, who were these people? What did they want with Mei? It was all so confusing! The people that stood before her didn't feel human, it was as if there was something wrong with them. Her hands found itself on Miranda's arm as she clutched it with a deathly grip. Miranda glanced down at the terrified Lenalee and bit her lower lip. Not now of all places to fight! The grip on her arm loosened and to Miranda's surprise, Lenalee stood up.

No. She wasn't going to let these people take someone so precious away from her. For some reason she felt a disgusted feeling at the pit of her stomach that if she let them take her away, they were never going to see Mei again. They'll probably poke and prod her like some lab experiment until they're satisfied with their results then toss her away like trash. No, not if she could do something about it. It was then that the malicious feeling inside Lenalee detonated.

Miranda reached out towards Lenalee to sit down, they didn't need to cause unnecessary commotion for Komui again. Even with all the pleading on Miranda's side, Lenalee wasn't about to step down, her own violet eyes glared up at the head branch, "Mei might've been your disciple a year ago, but it was you who transferred her here for the sake of this war. You're not her supervisor anymore, so don't think you can just go around wasting lives at the expense of your own selfish wills." the words blasted around them and Renee actually staggered backwards in shock of the girl's words because she knew half of it was true.

Yes, it was her family and Head Branch Bak's families that made that huge mistake nine years ago. They were so caught up in their dreams of making 'second exorcists' that they threw away all their morals and sanity. When they started creating people in the synthetic disciple project it was as if that was their life, their only goal. They had forgotten about the people that were actually being taken apart to benefit the project. People like Kanda Yu and _**that girl**_. Renee looked up, this time truly sorry for her actions of the past, but it wasn't like she was going to apologize for her deeds. These things had to be done, at this rate the Earl will take them apart if they didn't.

"The truth is so much more than just what you see, there are things that you kids just won't understand... Things that had to be done," Renee explained with a sweep of her hand at the Order building, "I know we did some things that has hurt people, even if I don't feel sorry for it... The Order still feels responsible for their actions." she noted to people like Bak Chan who were still blaming and themselves for the dirty deeds he's done in the past. "There are some secrets even God himself doesn't know, the truth about Kanda and Mei... If you'll let me see her, it's time I set things straight." Renee said softly.

After hearing her words, Lenalee didn't know what to do when she surprised even herself that her body subconsciously moved to the side to let them through. Renee smiled gratefully at her and started forward when she motioned the last three to stay outside, "Koushi, Kiredori, and Tokusa, stay outside and guard the door. No one comes in," she ordered and the three nodded their heads. The door opened and Renee walked in with the platinum haired woman and the orange haired man as the door closed behind them and the rest were left questioning what the hell just happened.

----

At the sound of the door opening behind him, Kanda turned around and his eyes went wide then narrowed in disgust at the figures that stepped in. He gritted his teeth in annoyance as Renee closed the door behind her with a sound 'click'. "You... What the fuck are you doing here?" he growled menacingly at Renee, the supervisor just brushed it off knowing full well how much the katana wielding man hated her guts for what she did to him.

Lavi, whom was still hiding behind the cupboard, felt the familiar chill go down his spine when he raised himself a bit to see if it's the people he thought they were. When his eyes met those of the purple eyed woman's, Lavi's heart stopped for a whole second before he ducked behind his cover. It was them. Those creepy half akuma, half human people that started a fight with Allen in the hallway! What the hell were they doing here?!

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the people I wanted to see," Renee started with a small laugh as her eyes peered down at Kanda, "Kanda Yuu and Chang Esvadania Mei of the synthetic disciple project." at the same moment, both Kanda and Lavi felt their blood go cold at the supervisor's words. Kanda's eyes iced over in matter of seconds as his hand tightened themselves around Mugen. No... Not this again.

_**The synthetic disciple project**_...

- - - - - - - - - - x

A/N pt II!: next chapter- Illusions born of Hatred and Love

Oh! Secrets are revealed as Renee steps in with the new 'third exorcists'. Just what does the supervisor mean when she names both Kanda and Mei the synthetic project disciples? What connection does Kanda have with Mei? Please tune in for the next chapter! :D Review please!


	57. Illusions born of Hatred and Love

A/N: Edited 8/25/10 A lot of boy's jealousy at work! :O

Chapter: 57: Illusions born of Hatred and Love

It was as if someone had stepped onto a land mine as the room buzzed with a shroud of electricity. Renee stared down at the boy with fierce blue eyes and Kanda glared back with blazing fiery azure ones. Renee sensed the cloud of hate that wrapped itself around the loathed stare, one that she had grown accustomed to seeing since Kanda was a mere boy. The blonde haired woman brushed a hand across her face and gave him a genuine smile and stepped forward. Kanda stood up with Mugen in his hand while Tevak and Madagao responded by closing in on Renee in a protective stance. The supervisor held up a hand for them to stop. Tevak and Madagao looked at each other before standing down.

She folded her hands across her busty chest and sighed, "I'm not here to fight you, Kanda." she said directing the words at Kanda. Kanda subconsciously took a step back towards Mei. There was no way in hell he was going to trust Renee for even a spilt second. Even if they did work for the Order.

"Don't even get me started, Epstein," he said frostily at her. Each word simmered with layer of hateful venom as Renee pulled a chair from the side and sat down. She waited until Kanda was finished and motioned for him to sit. Her eyes darted towards the sleeping girl for a second before shifting them back on the Asian man in front of her. Kanda hesitated for a moment as his hands tightened around Mugen and Madarao frowned. Tevak placed a hand on Madarao's arm in warning. Finally, Kanda gave in and sat back down, his attention at full alert. He'd never go back to them, even if his life depended on it. He didn't give a damn as to what happens to the Order, he just wished they'd leave him alone.

Neither of them spoke as Kanda looked away from the woman. Renee didn't know how to deal with a man like Kanda. She didn't want to start anything with another exorcist, at this point, they had to stay together as a team. She lowered her head, "Believe what you will, think what you will... But I won't apologize for the things I've done in the past." she began slowly. Kanda didn't reply, he just sat back and continued to stare out the window with his arms slung across his knees. Renee cocked her head, "I heard you went to go see Old Man Zhu," Kanda made a clicking noise with his tongue and the North American supervisor chuckled, "How'd the meeting go?" she asked with curious words that prowled itself towards Kanda.

"I don't see how that's any of your concern," he answered her cooly, his eyes drifting back towards the woman. She saw the swirl of black and blue swimming in and out of his piercing irises that reflected years of fighting and rejecting that she felt sympathetic for a mere moment. She just nodded and understood his cold demeanor towards her. It was quiet again and both of them just sat there muddled in the silence. Kanda was losing his patience when he turned his head and peered at the older woman, "If you have something to say then spit it out already," he told her half-heartedly.

She sighed, "What do you want me to say, Kanda? An apology? Because like I said before, I'm not sorry for the things I did. What's done is done, it's the past. We were only trying to help save the world a little faster." she said softly, "Can you blame us for that?" Kanda couldn't believe the bullshit that was coming out this woman's mouth. He turned towards her, scowl and all and pointed his weapon at her.

"We were just kids, Renee, KIDS. We saw more bloodshed in our measly 10 years of life than any war veteran ever could. You manipulated us and used us for your own personal gains. You pushed us to the very edge hoping that maybe, just maybe there was a chance that we would become your fucking exorcists!" he seethed through his gritted teeth. The anger that has accumulated within his heart over the years wanted to spill. "You made us fight. You… You made us kill each other. You turned our world into hell."

"Exactly. The same god damn Innocence that has been protecting your life, and the people around you! Do you still not understand, it's just not about you anymore. It never was. We used what we could, if it meant selling our souls to the the devil… Then so be it. We rather we did that than sit here and attempt to do nothing about it! Don't you dare make me look like the bad guy here!" she answered angrily leaning towards him with full accusation in her voice that he wasn't appreciating the power the Innocence had given him. Partially that was thanks to the Second Exorcist project, if it wasn't for it, Kanda probably would have never found out his true potential.

Kanda shook his head and almost laughed at her bizarre thoughts, "You destroyed our innocence the moment you took on the project. You said you'd rather sell your soul to the devil? Then what makes us… you… better than the Earl?" he asked falling back into his chair.

Renee faltered at that question, even she didn't have an answer for that. She bit her tongue from saying anymore as a lump formed in her throat. She, no one really knew what was going to happen. No one saw it coming, but they should've. This was their consequence for using innocent lives and messing them up so they can gain an upper hand. Through the years of trying to salvage what was left of the war, it seems like the Order has lost track of what was really precious. Unfortunately, Kanda was right. The Order was no different than the Earl, himself. The sole of all evil.

Lavi didn't know, he didn't know any of this until now. He never did understand why Kanda was always so hateful, so cold towards everyone at the Order. It was because they had destroyed everything that he ever had in his life, they had ripped his soul from his body and now all that lives is a shell of what Kanda used to be. He's just a fighting machine. It does make sense and the puzzle pieces do fall into place. It hurt to think about the whole situation when the puzzle is actually done and the damage that it had brought upon the people that are still fighting this war. Lavi swallowed, the noise sounded so loud in his head that he swore the whole room could've heard. The younger Bookman felt uneasy, he felt like he was intruding upon scared ground of Kanda's past. A place where no one's stepped before, the secret that he's tried so hard in protecting. Lavi wouldn't lie to himself that he didn't want to tune in to the things being discussed, but at the same time he felt like he was betraying a friend's trust. He ran a hand through his hair and left them behind his neck before gritting his teeth together in frustration. Lavi didn't know what to do. When did not caring about others become so hard? When did shutting out feelings start being difficult to handle? Why couldn't he forget about those trivial things that shouldn't be important? Something told him he already knew the answer to his own questions. When he shouldn't care, shouldn't remember, shouldn't associate with forbidden emotions, he started wondering. Lavi couldn't help but be curious about his new surroundings when he met Lenalee and Kanda so long ago. He witnessed Lenalee cry for the first time, he saw Kanda burst out in anger. They were real... **Genuine**. Their feelings expressed themselves truthfully and it wasn't a lie. It wasn't fake. Somewhere along the road, the line between reality and faking it became fuzzed and soon Lavi couldn't distinguish between truth or act. The one thing that he was suppose to be good at. Rodo was right, he did change, because now everything seemed to be more than just being about paper and ink.

It was supposed to be just the same. Lavi just thought he was playing around, just like usual. When he met Mei, he thought he'd just tease her a little, make her a little angry maybe. But in the long run, it was she who taught him the value of feelings. He didn't know how or when, but she turned the tables around. She fought against him, shouted at him, hit him, most of all, comforted him when he needed it. She became a person that he couldn't look away from. Mei was like an enchanting dancer that took all his attention. Just like his own feelings, he soon couldn't see the line of playing around and actually like being with her. Loving her. Cherishing her existence.

Lavi's head raised itself up in sudden proclamation. Dear lord… he was in love with her. Or maybe that wasn't it, maybe he didn't truly love her. He just needed her. A sick feeling invaded his stomach and Lavi clutched his lower torso. He didn't want this anymore, the conflicting feelings that's muddling his mind. If he could just lock them away, throw it somewhere where he won't find it again. He shut his eye and grabbed a fistful of his messy hair, his mind screaming for it to all go away. His grandfather's words echoed itself in his mind. If he didn't stop what he was doing with Mei, he'll force Lavi to leave. No, Lavi didn't want that, if he left, she'll definitely be sad. Lavi pulled one of his legs up and burrowed his face into his arms. He prayed to God, if there was one, with all his soul and might for His benevolent help. He wanted to be with her, but at the same time he didn't want her to end up being a part of the history books.

He had crossed the forbidden line and now he's in love with another exorcist.

x x x x

"Do you still see them?" she asked whimsically trying to break the ice. Kanda couldn't help but flinch at the question. From Kanda's reaction, Renee gathered enough from his movements to answer her question. It was now or never, "It's time we talked, Kanda, about the Order…" Renee spoke seriously with her perfectly manicured finger tips tapping lightly against the metal table. Only silence prevailed with the rhythmic pattern of Renee's fingers continuing to tap.

"I told you people that I don't fucking care what happens to the Order. How many times do I have to tell you guys before you get it?" Kanda said cooly. He shifted in his seat, he suddenly didn't want to be here. With all this talk about the past, it was irritating. Were these people idiots? What's done, done. Why was it someone's always trying to dig up the past? Wasn't that the point of sealing their mistakes? So no one could ever attempt at it again, so no one would know. It was mind-boggling how stupid some people can be.

"You might not care about the Order, but I know you care about what happens to her," Renee refuted, knowing full well how Kanda thought about the bedridden girl. The supervisor had hit a nerve as Kanda flexed his hand, itching to hit something. Renee watched in amusement, she was clearly enjoying this. "Now, don't give me that face. You can't possibly think that you were the only test subject we had?" she noted with a strange and bewildering smile. Kanda shut his eyes to her image, he tried to tune out her voice, but it wasn't working. Her words were like invincible spears piercing the armor that surrounded him like a barricade. A barricade that usually worked, yet there was something about the supervisor that got under his skin. He wondered if all North Americans were like that. Persistently annoying.

Kanda exhaled through his nose and spoke, "Don't put words into my mouth, I never said I cared about her, " he objected lightly, wishing she'd shut up already. She was getting on his last nerves before he completely went insane.

"Would you mind if I told you that she was dying?" she asked from out of nowhere. Kanda finally turned his had at her with eyes that mirrored utter surprise, but it disappeared just as fast. When the words reached Lavi's ear, his heart almost shattered. The redhair almost doubled over if it wasn't for the fact that he was already on the ground. What the hell was going on? Mei… dying? It made no sense. Kanda didn't immediately respond to her news. Kanda looked at Mei, the sound of machines beeping dominating his senses. It shouldn't have surprised him, he knew Allen and Krory were at risk of dying at a younger age than most conformers too. Then why was it so hard to accept that Mei was also in the same boat as them? It was the risk of parasitic type holders to bear the effects of their Innocence upon their own bodies. Although he already knew that fact, the thought of Mei not being there left an inexplicable feeling of loneliness in his heart.

"I'm not surprised," he replied smoothly, "It's part of the job, she should've known the first day she decided to become an exorcist. She's just one of the weak ones if she can't handle the consequences."

It surprised even Renee at how calm and collected Kanda acted at his comrade's future. A soft smile played on her lips, "You're a good liar and you've always been good at this. Ever since I could remember. You've been a quiet kid that was able to cover his emotions really well. Even after the treatments." Renee said airily, "Unfortunately, Mei ended on the opposite side after the project was sealed away." she mused, looking out the hospital window. The sun was still shining strong through the translucent drapes as Kanda went on listening with unbiased attention.

Kanda was a hard man to read, but after so many years of raising him and being with the child, Renee had been able to pick up some signs of irritation when she saw it on Kanda's face. "It wasn't like we forced the project on her to begin with. She was strong and willing. You of all people should know what it's like to want revenge," Kanda furrowed his brows at her words, "You're not the only one that's got it hard, Kanda. Back then we had no idea just how many Noahs were out there, Mei's parents had one beside them all their lives acting as their best friend and they were killed for it. Knowing both Esvadania and Riku... They would've forgiven him just the same." Renee's voice had turned bitter and low as if this moment effected her deeply.

"Mei was found unconscious in the middle of her parent's land and of course we took her in, but we never told her what really happened since it didn't seem like she remembered much. Her mind had somehow suppressed the traumatic events that took place that night. We just made up a story that akumas got her parents instead. Mei at that age already understood what her parents did, but their death was still hard to accept. She was so young and vulnerable." Kanda didn't know what to say, he didn't even know why she was telling him Mei's history. He simply didn't care, but it still stirred something inside of him.

"Either way, once she was of age, she asked us if she could become a conformer like her parents. The chances of her turning into a togaochi were high, even those that were directly related to exorcists weren't worthy of being conformers in the past. A lot of people had fallen at the hands of Innocence, fallen into 'Fault'. But she went along with the plan anyways," Renee explained, she placed a hand on her forehead and closed her eyes as if she was exhausted.

Slowly, and unwillingly the pieces of the girl's life became one image in Kanda's mind as the puzzle began to take shape, "But she ended up part of the Synthetic Disciple Project." he stated casually at her circumstances, "Part of the Alma Karma..."

Renee nodded in agreement, "We were ecstatic that she turned out to be compatible..." her voice trailed off and there was a moment of silence before she continued, "Compatible with one of the most unstable Innocences around." she finished. The look on Kanda's face told her that he didn't quite understand what she meant and Renee didn't want to go on, but she knew that he should know at least some things about the others that were in the same project. "Phoenix Fire isn't what you think it is, it might be a tool created by God himself... But because the power, even as an equipment or parasitic type, the power was too raw for one body to handle. It had side effects, _fatal_ side effects." she said softly.

"It surprised us all that she was compatible, but maybe it was because she was the daughter of two very powerful exorcists." Renee continued, her mind taking her back to the days when Mei was just a kid, "I won't lie that we were selfish and blinded. When we found out that she was one of the chosen ones, we didn't hesitate to ask her to take part in the SD project that the higher ups forced upon us at that time. We hadn't even considered that Mei was already in a lot of pain from taking the responsibilities of Phoenix Fire," At this point, Renee sighed, her eyes were clouded over with folds of shadows, "She agreed wholeheartedly without even considering the extra risks she was about to take on, as long as it made her strong. You have to understand that she had a reason to fight, for a better future... One where people didn't have to suffer at the hands of akumas." Renee sounded almost like she was pleading Kanda to understand.

Kanda mindlessly touched Mei's hand, "She didn't recognize the signs that I was also part of the project," he commented. His words hinting towards the large tattoo over his chest, "... And I didn't know either," he said with an air of irritation around him for being so oblivious.

"I wouldn't have expected either of you two to have known each other. Although you two were in the same project, you two were in separate environments at the time," she pointed out, "Same place, different levels because of different Innocence types and the fact that you came out better than the rest." Kanda couldn't help but look at her this time. Renee locked eyes with his, the intensity ready to blow between them, "Like I said, she was strong and she had motivation, but with the pressure of both her Innocence and the project on her body... It made her physically weak. Each subject reacts differently to the experiment implemented on them and so the results are totally different at the end. Some turn out like you, strong and healthy while there are those that become very susceptible to even the smallest flu virus, like Mei. Have you noticed her frequent fainting spells? Or unusually high fevers?" the head branch asked him with arched brows. Kanda opened his mouth, but no words came out, "Like your tattoo, that is her proof that life is being exchanged in order for her to live," Renee sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Wasn't it the fact that me and Alma were artificially created specifically for that type of test and Mei was just a mere human?" he grumbled lowly and Renee once again sighed.

It was strange listening to her words, it was even stranger to know that he's witnessed Mei's life being sucked away before. It was all so unnerving to be sitting here and just listening as if it was a story from a storybook. A nightmare fairy tale come to life right before his eyes. With all this info, one question had been nagging at the back of his mind, "So it wasn't her Innocence...?" he inquired briefly, piecing the last parts of this massive puzzle together. Renee tilted her head and tapped her finger more feverishly than before.

"How should I say this?" she said with a teasing tone, "When we tweaked her body with the project, we gave her Innocence a sense of... _life_." she said cryptically, "Like a will almost," she added with a sigh. The woman's eyes continued to stare at Kanda with an amused expression, the blue swirling with unknown secrets irked him even more. Suddenly Kanda's pockets buzzed and his golem came to life. A second wave of flapping came from behind a cupboard as Lavi attempted to shut it off before it flew out of his pockets, but to no avail. Four pairs of eyes lifted themselves up to look over as Lavi slowly pulled himself up and laughed hesitantly and stretched himself. "You...? The Bookman's grandson!" Renee exclaimed rather surprised. Kanda's fingers gripped itself tightly around the chair's arms when he glared up at the redhead. Kanda didn't know how much he heard, and it actually worried him if the idiot knew too much.

"Baka usagi...!" Kanda growled, but before either of them can start anything, Komui's voice crackled to life from their golems. _'Report to my office immediately. You will be handed your new assignments, the third exorcists are to come with.'_ and with that his voice died out. Kanda looked over at Lavi who shrugged and hopped over a table and made his way out with a bright smile on his face.

"I promise I didn't hear anything," the red head mumbled as his shoulder brushed Kanda's, Kanda just shot a glare at Lavi before shuffling towards the door. Tevak and Madagao exchanged perplexed expressions. Renee finally got up from her seat and started her way out when she passed by Kanda slowly, a smug smile appearing on her face.

"Hmm, I see that the lotuses are still floating around I presume? I guess you're not the only one that lives in the rift between life and death... I wonder what atrocities your precious Mei sees..." she whispered haughtily. Kanda went rigid and whirled around to see the blonde woman walk out of the room with her laughter ringing in the hallways. Kanda growled, his voice sounding like a demon ready to kill when he felt someone touch his arm. Kanda glowered at Madagao and pulled himself away from his hand and stalked off towards Komui's office with a silent Tevak and Madagao following behind.

In a few short steps, Kanda had caught up to the nonchalant redhead and the two walked side by side with nothing but odd quietness between them. Without looking up, the swordsman spoke, "How much did you hear?" he asked straightforwardly and the boy next to him looked over confused.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lavi stated trying not to let the sadness overwhelm him. He didn't want to think about the conversation that he just overheard. The idea that the girl of his dreams was soon going to be on Death's front porch did not exactly raise his morale.

"Don't fuck with me, Bookman." Kanda threatened with a dark look and Lavi stopped and turned towards Kanda. All seriousness on his face.

"Your secret is safe with me, I won't tell anymore. I promise… As long as you don't kill me for it," he joked lightly though he stopped chuckling when he saw the death stare on Kanda's face, "Is it too early for jokes?" he asked with a sideway glance.

"I don't care that you know my secret, I was talking about Mei… As a boyfriend you don't seem very concerned about her well being. I think I'm just going to have to take her from you then." he declared. Lavi was actually knocked off guard by the sudden possessiveness that Kanda portrayed for Mei that he couldn't speak for a second. It was until he turned away from Lavi that the redhead came back to his senses. Not care for her well being? That was all that mattered to Lavi. How dare Kanda even suggest that he didn't care? That wasn't even the thing that pissed him off but the fact that he was challenging Lavi for her. Kanda knew that she was his first, that they were together. He didn't even like her, Kanda didn't have the right to have her in the first place. He was the one that constantly pushed her away and now he wants her all of a suddenly after he heard about her condition? That was pathetic.

Lavi grabbed Kanda's arm and pulled him back, "Not care for her well being? What the fuck does that mean?" he asked angrily, "I was the first one in that room when she came in, where were you? Busy being mister macho that's what. I love her and you can't even bring yourself to tell her your feelings always pushing people away. You're a joke." Lavi whispered lowly, but each word was filled with much anger and jealousy.

Kanda pulled his arm away and smirked at him, "You 'love' her? Yeah, right… Don't be a hypocrite. I bet you haven't even told her that, have you?" he asserted quite bluntly that Lavi turned red from the question. "That's what I thought, don't be telling me what to do," with that the raven haired man walked off. Lavi didn't know what he was more mad at, Kanda or himself, but he couldn't just let him take her away.

Lavi faced the direction that Kanda and shouted after him, "I'll fucking kill you if you touch her." Kanda peered over his shoulder and gave him another smug expression.

"I want to see you try, baka-usagi," he challenged and continued to stride towards Komui's office. All Lavi could do was drown in his own anger as he punched the wall next to him.

x x x x

Allen didn't know whether it was just him, but the air seemed oddly thick in the room or at least where he was sitting. The albino haired boy looked at his left side and saw a rigid Kanda sitting there and to his right, a rather silent Lavi. The redhead wasn't making any snark remarks like he usually does at meetings. Which was strange for him. Even though everything seemed in order at the same time… It wasn't. It was in fact hard to breath. He just had to sit between the two.

"You guys okay?" Allen questioned out of curiosity. Both of them glared at each other before giving him an abrupt answer and Allen almost shrank from their deathly auras, "Okay… Sorry, I asked… Jeez."

From the looks of it, the future missions were crucial since all the exorcists seemed to be gathered into one room. From what Lavi and Kanda can see, Lenalee, Allen, Marie, Krory, Miranda, Bookman, Timothy, Chaoji, Tokusa, Kiredori, Goushi, and even Link were all in Komui's large office room. The air was heavy and laced with seriousness as the four walked in and all heads turned. Lavi placed himself on a couch as Kanda leaned against the bookshelf. Murmurs were exchanged and looks were shot at when Komui cleared his throat and all attention were on the supervisor. "I've gathered you all here in hopes that you'll all work together on your next assignments. It's getting really dangerous, that I can not lie to you and some of you might not come back..." at that point his voice wavered, "There has been reports of akumas all over the world appearing simultaneously. Not in hundreds, but thousands. I'm separating all groups to make the forces much stronger. You'll be paired up with other exorcists and Generals too." Komui had several files in hand as he shifted them on his table into a row.

"Allen Walker, you're with Madagao, Tokusa, and Link. You are group one heading towards Jordan," he looked over towards Lavi, "Lavi, you're with your grandfather, Chaoji, and Marie. You'll be heading towards Huang Shan, China. As for Lenalee, you will be going with General Klaud Nyne, Goushi, and Timothy as group three, area Lefkada, Greece," Lenalee smiled down at the boy next to her and Timothy grinned happily, "Group four will consist of General Winter Zokaro, Miranda, Krory, and Kiredori. Area: Jikaljan, Russia." Komui finally looked over to Kanda with his hands folded over his lips, "You and Tevak will be guarding the Order's camp in Jordan as Allen and this group scouts out the area." he handed everyone their files and each and every one of the exorcists began to group themselves according to Komui's instruction and began walking out while talking about their game plan. Komui noticed that Kanda lagged behind as the others disappeared into the hall. "You're worried about her, aren't you?" he asked and Kanda's shoulders perked up and he looked away. Komui laughed, "Don't worry, we'll take care of her...I promise." he smiled and Kanda left the office with a rather calm look on his face.

x x x x

Riba and Johnny made their way towards Komui's office, with the third exorcists and the others gone, the whole place seemed oddly quiet; even in the midst of a war. The two had been called to the supervisor's office because he had wanted to discuss to them about something. Komui didn't elaborate what he had in mind except it had to do with Chief Peck and the American Branch. Johnny kept fiddling with his wristbands as he continued to shift his glasses. Riba placed a cigarette behind his ear and sighed as he knocked on the door. Johnny's shoulders shook and he looked up, "I'm in trouble aren't I? I didn't mean to stash his Koumurin IV and make him look for it all day when it was in his office... I thought it'd teach him a lesson in keeping his things to himself. I don't want to be transferred, Riba!" Johnny begged with tears already working its way down his childish face.

Riba smacked Johnny behind his head and narrowed his eyes, "Get a hold of yourself, Johnny. Why the hell would he transfer you? You're one of the few who can actually stand Komui's obnoxious ways. If he transferred you, no one in the world would take the job anyways... If they don't want to be worked to death or trip on something dangerous that he's made..." Riba said with an encouraging smile, "Plus, he asked for both me and you and really, what are the chances of him transferring the both of us?" he laughed. Komui's voice told them to come in and Riba pushed open the door and walked in with Johnny tagging behind.

"Yo! Riba and Johnny! There you are, guess what? You two are going over to the American Branch!" Komui said giddily with a bright smile plastered on his face and both Johnny Riba almost gagged over at the unexpected words. Riba slapped his hands on the wooden table, his face completely horrified. angry, and who knows what else as veins and odd shadows began to creep all over his face. Komui leaned back, the idiotic smile still on his face, "What-? What is it? Why are you so angry? I thought you two would be honored!" Komui said with his smiling face. Johnny was crying in the corner of the room, muttering incoherently.

"You... You dare TRANSFER me and Johnny? After all the bullshit I have to put up with? The tonics, the potions... I can't believe you're actually transferring me to the American branch!" Riba called out hysterically. Komui furrowed his brow in confusion as he watched the two acting up at the splendid news. He didn't understand any of the nonsense about them being transferred away and stuff, but he'll let them calm down before he tells them the rest of the things that needs to be discussed.

It took a while for Johnny to stop crying his eyes out when the three men sat around the table and Komui leaned forward trying not to die from laughing his eyes out. He sat back into his swirling chair and wiped his eyes of the brimming tears. "It's not funny, Komui... You scared us senseless, especially Johnny," Riba declared crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Sorry, sorry... I just didn't think you two would think of such a ludicrous thing! Transferring? I'd die without you two helping me around here," Komui chuckled, "No, I wasn't thinking transferring. It's just that... There's a research conference at the American Branch," Komui started looking at some papers on his desk, "I want you, Riba, to attend... And I was thinking you might want to bring Johnny with you," Komui noted glancing up at the two men. Riba seemed to be contemplating it and Johnny looked ecstatic.

"Really? You'd let me go?" he asked excitedly. Komui was glad that he had such an enthusiastic worker that was willing to go, but he knew in his heart that the meeting consisted of taboo subjects that will probably ruin Johnny's naivety. He could only smile weakly at him as Riba took notice of the change of mood on his friend's face. The meeting didn't last long as they made preparations as to when they leave and when they'll arrive. It was agreed that they were going to leave that night and arrive there three days later. They watched as Johnny left the office and Riba didn't turn to face Komui.

"You should've just told him, it's no use hiding these things... No matter how wrong or how grotesque it is," Riba pointed out softly. Komui sat on the edge of his desk and sighed pulling off his glasses.

"But I want to protect them, even if it's just a little bit..." he replied. His eyes moved towards the window on his left as rain began to fall against the glass, fogging up what seems to be the unstable future.

- - - - - - - - - - - x

A/N pt II: Happy belated birthday, Lavi- my love! :heart: (19... c(: )


	58. To Find You

A/N: Please read and review! I'd appreciate your thoughts on this story and/or chapter! (:

Chapter 58: To Find You

She's often seen him running through the halls trying his best to hide from his handlers. Then a second one would come bounding down the halls after the first one. Except the second one often wore a head of long dark hair that fell to his little shoulders. At first she thought he was girl, but soon she realized that he was a male. A very stubborn and foul mouthed little boy. It seemed like they were part of the same project as she was, except they were different in ways that she did not understand. The way they seem to bleed, but pick themselves up in no time or the strange markings that were all over their body. There were no scars to prove of their pain like hers. Something about them seemed **unreal **to her.

She never actually met them, just glimpses of them as they're being chased around the order and often enough hear their names being blasted through the P.: Alma and Kanda. She figured out through the numerous times they snuck out that the happy one was named Alma and the sulking, bad attitude one was Kanda. There were times that Alma would see her and give her a smile before running off again. She could never give chase because of the condition she was in. She was stuck in a wheel chair because she was too weak to walk on her own after all the tests that they performed on her small body. At that time she remembered that she was really envious of them. She wanted to run and play too. She wanted to laugh again with people her own age. She wanted her freedom...

Mei opened her eyes slowly and blinked. Her blurry vision faded into clearness as she continued to stare at the white ceiling above her. So she did know Kanda, they might not have been close, but she definitely remembered them flitting in and out of her memories. It was no wonder why Kanda seemed so familiar. She recognized him from her childhood. For a brief moment, she had grown up with Kanda and a kid named, Alma. Except nine years ago, something happened and her memory faded into darkness. It was like something was blocking out the signal of the time she was part of the project in creating stronger exorcists. But she was starting to recover as if something triggered the memories buried deep within her mind. All her memories being unlocked.

Mei sat up and rubbed her eyes, her head was pounding against her skull. Alma Karma. It seemed like Kanda was his best friend. A fellow comrade of her's from so long ago. Vague memories of them laughing and fighting littered around her as she saw ghost images of both the boys running around the infirmary. She flinched when she heard the door open and the head nurse's head of white hair popped in and gave her the most surprised expression as she dropped her clipboard and it clattered loudly to the ground.

The head nurse continued to stare as Mei stared back before giving her a sideways grin, "What, head matron? Do I have something on my face?" she asked with a small laugh. There was no response and she watched as the head nurse slowly walk in still staring at her as if she was the most exotic human in the world. "Okay… Now you're scaring me, what's wrong?" she questioned curiously.

"Mei, you've been in a comatose state for almost six weeks now… We didn't know when you were going to wake up." she answered her with her hand going over her lips, apparently still in shock. Mei's felt her heart stop for a moment as the news hit her. Six weeks? That was over a month! How could've this have happened to her? Upon seeing her patient's reaction, the head nurse walked over and sat at her bed side and held her hand, "You're going to be fine, Mei… Don't worry about a thing," she soothed. Mei looked up with tears in her eyes. "Oh, honey… There's no need to cry," she reassured her.

Mei shook her head as stands of of her dark brown hair fell around her shoulders, "Allen… Allen, where is he?" she asked almost as if in a panic. There was an urging feeling that she had to see him, she didn't know why, but she it felt important. But all the head nurse could do was shake her head and sigh at her which somewhat aggravated her, "What about Kanda?" she inquired gripping her hand on the older woman's arm. She needed to know if the things she remembered about him were true, about the 'Second Exorcist Project' and all of it's hidden secrets. And again she just furrowed her brows at her, "At least let me speak to Komui!" she begged with her head bowed down.

Just then the door opened again and a familiar voice caught both their attentions, and Mei didn't know whether to sigh in relief or be surprised at Komui's timely appearance. Mei smiled weakly and got out of bed trying to reach him, but she ended up stumbling and falling to the ground. Both the head nurse and Komui rushed over as Mei silently began to weep. She looked up at Komui, eyes filled with so much grief that he had to look away or else he felt like she'd break his heart. Komui signaled the head nurse to leave as he picked her up in his arms. She was so light and fragile that it frightened him that he'd break her if he wasn't careful. The way she was crying and the way her hair fell around her small face reminded him of how he used to pick Lenalee up when she felt sad and needed a hug. He placed her gently back onto the bed and sat at the edge until she could get herself together.

"You feeling better now?" he asked softly trying not to push her too fast. Mei didn't say anything at first, but finally she stared at her bare hands laying on her lap.

"He almost killed me," she stated in a small voice, "I felt my heart stop when Tyki pushed me off the edge… I saw my whole life flash before my eyes, my mom and dad… Lavi," she closed her eyes and raised her head as if trying to remember something important, "You want to know something, Komui…?" her voice trailed off into a whisper for a second, "… When it came time to kill him, I couldn't bring myself to do it," her voice cracked and her hands fisted themselves in anger, "What's wrong with me?"

Komui grabbed her arm before she set anything on fire with her out-of-control temper, "Stop it! There's nothing wrong with you, Mei…" he struggled trying not to tell her about her Innocence's power explosion on her mission, "It's because there's a difference between you and them… You have a heart, you chose not to kill. I understand that, we all struggle through that inner demon. Mei, you have to know that this is war… If we let the Noah's win, there is no chance that innocent lives will be spared." Komui explained as much as it pained him to advocate the will to continue to fight this war, "I hate this war as much as you, Mei… All its done is cause endless pain. I just want to go back home with Lenalee and live out our days in the mountains again," he sighed taking off his glasses.

Mei saw the wishful expression cross the young man's face for a brief second before disappearing into a blank demeanor that many people she knew around the Order had grown accustomed to wearing. It saddened her to see so many dreams and wishes being crushed because of the Earl and the Noahs and it angered her at the same time. It felt like no matter how hard they pushed the Earl and his minions easily crushed their efforts. The silence and the thoughts about the Earl triggered a memory of Tyki telling her about a condition of Allen's… Allen and the 14th Noah.

"Komui…" Mei spoke out slowly, pieces Tyki's words came back together in her head. The last thing she saw was Tyki's face and his lips moving, telling her about Allen and a Noah called the 14th and how they were the same person. The branch leader looked up at the young girl, "Is Allen a Noah?" she asked.

x x x x

He wanted to move on. After so many years of searching and waiting he just wanted to just forget and move forward with his life. But no, the curse of the second life that he was given didn't allow him to forget. His very existence and the reason why he continued to live for so long was the reason to look for him, to wait for him. He wanted so badly to understand his own heart and to know and find the pieces of his soul that the Order had ripped apart so that he'd be at least somewhat human. For so long he thought he'd just be caught in this cycle of searching and wandering, forever trapped in this cursed body until it had worn itself out. Until he met her. He had hoped that with her, he'd take a chance and change his future, but now… Now that he's forced to remember those painful memories of _**him**_ and the _**project**_, there was no way he'd see her face again… Because his fate and his destiny had long been intertwined tightly with that of Alma Karma's. In his first life and his second life, his soul will always be eternally be bound by that of the Order and all of its sins that it has caused.

Kanda heaved a distraught sigh as he picked himself up from the rubble that was once the North American headquarters. Everyone had been called over as backup, it seems the Earl had paid this part of the Organization a visit. The Earl and the Noahs planned on awakening Alma from his deep sleep. Alma that was supposedly dead to the world, Alma that Kanda had killed so many years ago. In his eyes, he _**is**_ dead. Kanda wasn't about to let them resurrect the disfigured body that was his former best friend, because he's supposed to have stopped existing 9 years ago. He didn't want to believe that all this time, all these years that Alma had somehow survived. That was just bullshit.

He was definitely angry that the Order had kept this from him. He was angry to a point where he wanted to kill everything and everyone that decided this was okay. He gave them his soul, his body, and eventually even his heart. He swore that if he killed Alma all those years ago, he would put an and to the project. But without his notice, the Organization continued with its wretched experiments. From the ashes rose the Third exorcists, their bodies fused with cells of that of an akuma. Cells developed from Alma's dying body. Even in death Alma continued to piss him off. But what angered him the most was that the Order took everything from them, he even killed his best friend for them and still they kept his remains for further testing. This time… He promised to kill him permanently and release him from this painful life.

Kanda pulled Mugen up and staggered forward, blood was dripping from a deep cut on his abdomen, but as soon as he got up, the stab wound began to heal. He was going to end this once and for all, he didn't care who he had to taken down to do it.

x x x x

She saw the shocked expression on his face and she knew that she had hit bullseye. His lips parted slightly as if in thought, but then it closed a second later. It seemed like he was having a moral debate within himself to explain or not to explain. He adjusted his glasses and looked elsewhere trying to discourage further talk on this topic. To Mei's opinion, Komui seemed nervous. So it seems like it was true… That Allen was really hiding a secret. But that wasn't the thing that scared her the most, she was more worried about 'losing' Allen. Mei frowned slightly to herself as a she stared down at her bandaged hands. "Where are they?" she asked, this time she wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.

"That's classified and you need to stay in bed, Mei," he demanded looking at the young girl, but he saw the determination in her eyes and he knew then and there that there was no way he would persuade her otherwise. He sighed, "Don't blame me when you see what's left of the North American Branch…" he murmured leaving her in disbelief.

Mei felt her breath shorten when he mentioned 'what was left of the North American Branch' the image of her friends bodies… Of Al's body and Allen's, and everyone else's made her heart jump. Mei fumbled with her sheets and pulled at her uniform that was hung on the coat hanger. Her body felt odd to her, like she was a new born or something, everything seemed out of reach to her. She was having trouble putting her jacket on when the head nurse came in. Mei froze on the spot, she knew the strict rules that was applied to her patients. The head nurse for once tilted her head and walked out as if she didn't see anything. Mei smiled and continued to fumble with her clothes and started her way towards the gate docks.

Her running footsteps seemed to echo forever in the hallways as her panting breath heaved her towards the ark that would be able to locate Allen and the others. There were only a few people whom she knew that would help her now. She knew under these circumstances that the ark was off limits, but this was the only way she would be able to reach Allen and the others in mere seconds than having to travel all the way back home to New York. She shuffled into one of the science labs when she spotted the three people she was looking for. There sat, Rikei, Lou Fa, and Shifu punching away at the keyboard in front of them looking at the shimmering gate before them.

She tiptoed behind the tall man with brown hair and tugged at his arm. Rikei looked back then did a double take before realizing who it was. Before he could open his mouth, Mei shushed him and told him to follow her. Rikei furrowed his brows in confusion and looked over his shoulder at Lou Fa and ShiFu before exiting the room. When they were out Rikei planted his hands on her shoulder and looked at her as if she was crazy. "You're awake!" he hissed with a surprised tone and Mei chuckled and nodded, "What are you doing up already? Shouldn't you be in the infirmary?" he asked worried. He was asking her questions in speeds of light almost when she placed a finger over his lips. She saw the color rush to his face when he stepped back and allowed her to take a breath.

"Rikei… I need your help," she started lightly looking at him with pleading eyes, "I need access to the ark to find Allen and them, I need you to help me program it," she said softly as Rikei whom stared at her still. "Please…" she begged bowing to him. Rikei was taken back by her desperation, her sheer need to go to the battlefield with her conrades. He sighed and ruffled his already messy hair and paced the floors for a moment before stopping sighing again.

"No need to bow… Come on, follow me," he said taking her hand in his and pulling her towards the other side of the labs, "There are gates that are locked off that leads to different areas within the ark, I think you can use them to find Allen…" he trailed off as he slid a keycard into a slot. The door opened up to reveal a room similar to the one she found Rikei in earlier, but there weren't anyone else but them. He sat down and started typing some sort of sequence into the computer when things began to hum in synchronization as buttons glowed everywhere. "The ark is now on… It should be opening soon- The last known location of Allen's team was located in North America, New York. This gate should take you there." He turned and faced Mei with a small smile, "You can't tell anyone that I helped you out, I'll get my ass busted if you do," he joked.

Mei was overwhelmed by his kindness to help her, she didn't know what she would do to repay him, "Rikei… Thank you so much," she said giving him a grateful hug. Rikei froze in his seat as he felt her body wrap around his, he's never got the chance to actually deal personally with female counterparts that he didn't know how to react to this sudden closeness. A wave of heat rose to his face and his fingers twitched with curiosity as to whether he should hug back or just stay where he was. He heard her giggle, "It's okay to hug back, Rikei… I won't bite, I promise," she teased. Rikei slowly returned the favor.

She was so… soft, and small. Were women always like this? Had they always been so fragile to the touch? She also smelled nice, like a mix of vanilla and lavender. Lavi was lucky to be able to have a girl all to himself. He wondered if it was this nice to hug Lenalee. Just the thought of him hugging Lenalee like this made him nervous and jittery again. He finally pulled away from her and gently pushed her towards the gate, "You better get going… I can only keep it open for so long," he pointed out at the glowing ark. Mei gave him a wave before she stepped onto the platform, with a thumbs up from Rikei, she stepped off and into the gate disappearing into the light.

It saddened him that they had to fight so much, they sacrifice so much for the Organization that it didn't seem fair in his eyes. It scared him so much, not knowing if they'll come back alive or not, all he could do was pray for their safety. He looked at the now empty platform and sighed, "Good luck… Mei," he whispered.


	59. Don't Leave Me Yet

Chapter 59: Don't Leave Me Yet

There was blood, rubble, sounds of explosion and screams scoring his ears from everywhere. Lavi couldn't move from where he sat hidden from the battle that raged outside. He peered down at the wound on his chest; he was bleeding quite profusely. At this rate he was going to die before he could reach back to headquarters. Lavi ripped the sleeves of his jacket to use as a makeshift bandage to hopefully slow the bleeding down. There was no way he was going to let himself die out here, in the middle of nowhere. He had way too many unfinished things to settle and he had his whole life to live. He grit his teeth in pain as he winced pulling the bandage tighter around the wound. The blood stopped and Lavi heaved a sigh of relief.

He rummaged through his pockets when a small doll fell out and rolled a few feet away. He picked it up, his eyes softened. It was a small red haired doll that Mei had given to him in one of their earlier missions way back when she had just arrived to headquarters. They had an argument back then, he didn't specifically remember what it was, but it seemed so important back then. Mei had felt the need to apologize all the time and had gotten this while she was out. He remembered getting pretty drunk that night and trying to make a move on her too. Lavi couldn't help but chuckle to himself as that chuckle turned into heavy coughs. It was getting difficult to breathe. He didn't even get a chance to tell her his feelings for her although much to his grandfather's dismay. He had failed on that part of being a Bookman successor.

Lavi looked up above him as another explosion erupted in the sky as the air around him began to vibrate violently and blowing heavy wind into the canyons. He lowered himself in hopes of dodging the Noahs and Kanda. Kanda had seemed to have lost control of himself in the middle of battle that he's taking down anyone that got in his way, even his own teammates. Lavi scoffed at the situation, Kanda had allowed the anger within himself to consume him that he lost all sense of sanity. There was nothing Lavi or anyone else could do, but he had seen Allen attempt at stopping him from hurting Alma, who was now fully awake and completely kicking everyone's asses out there. Everything just seemed futile now, the best plan it seemed was to retreat. Lavi peered over the rocks and saw that the others were still in the Earl's electric hold as Allen tried his hardest to fight against Kanda and Alma at the same time. Lavi felt so useless at the moment, but there was no way he could go back onto the battlefield right now.

Lavi struggled his way down the slopes when Allen's body came hurtling down towards his direction. He smashed into the large rocks that had once shielded Lavi making it crumble under the white haired boy's weight, "Allen…!" Lavi shouted trying his best to move as fast as he could. Allen picked himself up from the rubble and coughed as blood dribbled out. "Allen, you okay?" Lavi asked reaching over to help him up. Allen looked up and gave him a small smile.

"I'm okay, Lavi…" he replied with a thumbs up, "Thanks to Old Man Zhu I can regenerate as fast as Kanda," he grinned, "But it's taking a toll on his last reserved energy supply, so I have to hurry…" he mumbled trying to stand up and return to the fighting couple. Lavi grabbed the younger boy's arm and gave him a hard stare.

"Are you serious?" Lavi asked staring into Allen's seemingly silver eyes, eyes that were too honest for their own good, "You're going to get killed out there! We need to retreat!" he advised instead, but Allen shook his head.

"Kanda's our friend, we need to help him… We need to help him figure out why he's so angry with Alma and maybe dissolve this fight. We have to find the calm Kanda under all this chaos… As his fellow friends," Allen said looking up at the tainted sky. Lavi couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was only Allen that could come up with that kind of logic. He knew that Kanda was an important member of the Order and a dear friend to everyone… But at this rate, when Kanda didn't want to listen and has gone berserk, how is reasoning with him going to help? Lavi loosened his grip on Allen as the boy looked surprised.

"I have your back, Allen, let's kick some ass and go home…" Lavi smirked giving him a thumbs up, although he was heavily injured. Allen smiled, and just as they were about to head back out a cracking noise came from Allen's earring startling the two. Lavi peered at the earring swearing he could hear a voice… A voice that resembled Mei's, but that was impossible, she was in a comatose state back at the infirmary. Lavi tilted his head in confusion, "What's going on…" he began to ask. Suddenly, Allen arched backwards, his eyes wide open as light expanded from him and formed a large gate in the sky. Lavi fell backwards staring at the light that was blinding his eyesight. Someone was attempting to come through, who the hell was it?

A young girl with hair the shade of dark chocolate and eyes of toffee candy drifted from the doors of the gate. Lavi's mouth dropped agape when he saw whom it was: someone that shouldn't be here. His eye followed the agile girl as she landed softly on some rocks nearby and looked about the desecrated land before her. The gates closed and the force of it knocked Allen back. But Lavi couldn't take his eyes off of her, he could see the pain that's gathered in her eyes. What once was her home was no more. He saw her fist clench in anger as a strange force clouded her bright eyes. Her hair weaved itself into the dry dessert climate as she continued to stare in horror and anger. It was only when Allen called out her name that she turned around in surprise.

Her eyes met his in a startling clash of anxiety and relief as she turned around. He felt the sudden air being taken from his lungs as he continued to stare at her from the ground like she was some sort of exotic wonder. She glanced at the red haired boy, she suddenly felt so out-of-place. He had that expression on his face again, the one that she saw him gawking at her on her first day at the Order back in London. "Lavi…" his name fell from her lips. Being called out seemed to have woken him up from his stupor as he stood up and walked over to her with hesitation. He reached out his hand and touched her alabaster skin that seemed to glow under the sunlight. She flinched at his touch as he smiled with sheer relief. It was like the pressures of the world fell off his shoulders.

"You're real… You're really here," he murmured. At that moment, his legs seemed to give out beneath him and Mei watched as Lavi crumbled towards the ground in almost a slow motion matter.

"Lavi!" Mei and Allen called out in unison. She caught him in her arms just before he fell to the ground. She pulled him onto her lap and began to search for injuries when she took notice of the wound that he had sustained from battle. The makeshift bandages were already soaked and staining through to his Order jacket, "You're bleeding so much, Lavi…" she said, but Lavi could tell that she was scared. Her voice was shaking and her hands were unsteady as she looked for things in her pack to wrap the deep cut with. It felt so nice on her lap and it made him sleepy, the drowsiness began to swirl around him and her voice echoed around her so soothingly, "Stay with me, Lavi… Come on…" she begged working as fast as she could with the limited materials she had on her. He was bleeding out too fast, any more and he'd go into shock, but there just weren't enough gauze to block out the extent of his injury. Mei slammed her fist against the ground feeling hopeless and tears were already making its way down her face.

"Take him back," Allen told her and she looked up at him with an appalled expression, "There's nothing here that's going to save him. You have to take him back to headquarters and have the doctors look at him," he instructed. Mei shook her head vigorously at the idea of leaving everyone behind just when she could be of help. Allen gritted his teeth at her and slammed his hands on her shoulders so that their eyes locked together, "Mei, he's going to die if he stays here," he told her and Mei sucked in her breath. His eyes were flaring with this sort of power that she's never seen before. She was so conflicted inside that she didn't know what to do. Allen managed a grin for her, "We'll be fine, I'll bring Kanda and the others back safe and sound. I promise," he murmured giving her a reassuring hug. Mei clutched onto the white haired boy before her, "Be careful, Allen…" she replied softly before getting up with Lavi draped over her shoulders.

There was a blast of wind when another door opened up. The light almost blinded Mei when she stumbled forward towards it. She peered over her shoulder and lingered staring at Allen whom was guarding the outer rim of where they were standing to make sure no one sees them. She bit her lower lip, shut her eyes and slipped through the gate. There was a soft exhaling noise when she entered and in a split second she was hitting a cold, hard floor. Lavi slid a few feet away from her and a trail of blood was left behind as she scrambled towards him. Tears escaped her topaz eyes relentlessly as she gathered him into her arms trying to pick him up. It scared her to see him like this, his skin was pale and dirty, and his lips were cracked from the dry and arid air of the desert wind. She's never felt this far away from him before.

"Please, don't leave me yet, Lavi…" she softly cried.


End file.
